Update 8.31.2010

Mission Tour – After spending two days in the hills we returned to a wonderful and inspiring day spent with Elder Watson (First Quorum of Seventy) and his wife. Counsel, advise, and training was given by the Watsons, President and Sister Broadbent, and the Assistants to the President. You could feel the strength and unity of purpose with all the couples and young Elders and Sisters. That evening the couples met at the president's home for dinner where, at our urging, Elder Watson shared some of his experiences (that he could share) as he has been Secretary to the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency for some 20 years. He's a good friend of President Monson and has been hunting and fishing with him. It was fun to get a glimpse of the personal side of General Authorities. We didn't want the evening to end!

New Kenyan Constitution – Thursday was an exciting day for Kenya as they celebrated a new constitution – the first ratified changes in Kenyan history. Declared a national holiday, many thousands gathered at Uhuru Park near us, where music and loud speakers could be heard from our home. We wanted to watch but have been cautioned not to go near crowds for security reasons. Everywhere we went we could feel excitement and hope in the air. We learned that day that Roger Whitaker was born in Nairobi. He has a beautiful song accompanying a video of many of the scenes that have become part of our lives here in Africa. It made us feel nostalgic and we haven't even left Africa yet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksy5A-VSNik ).

Elder and Sister McBride from Mombasa stayed with us a couple of days; and along with Elder and Sister Byrd, we had a day of shopping at the Jogo factory market and Kazuri Bead Factory. We ended the day at Bomas of Kenya where the native dancing and acrobatics were the best we've seen. It was a fun change of pace with good friends and fellow missionaries.

Bomas of Kenya - Traditional Home

Masai Warriors

     Now the Best Part! – Saturday was a cold day with warm hearts. The “old mamas” (as they are called) and grandpa-age men have been working so hard for almost a year in the ZEE (Zero English Experience) class to learn English enough that they could to pass a baptism interview. Many feared they would die before their hopes were realized! Saturday, 24 people from Mitini Branch and three from Kyambeke Branch were baptized. This included nine from the ZEE class! What a strong spirit was there as they dawned their white clothes and prepared for this sacred and important ordinance. They were so ready, most having been faithful meetings attenders for a long time. Many had to be helped carefully into the cold water of the font so they wouldn't fall. With smiles and tears they completed the goal they had been working toward. After the baptism they were given the opportunity to bear their testimonies. In class they had been practicing in English but it is harder to say how they feel so they all spoke in Kikamba. We couldn't understand the words but we could understand the feeling and spirit of what they were saying. One older sister was baptized by her grandson, as her son and family watched with full hearts. Others watched as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters were baptized. We will probably never experience anything quite like that again. What a humbling experience to be part of.

With 27 people being baptized plus four baptizers, there were many white clothes and towels to be washed and rinsed by hand, and then hung to dry. The Relief Society went right to work. It took quite awhile. Lines were strung between trees and buildings but wouldn't hold all the heavy wet clothes. Most were hung on bushes all over the yard or even placed on the grass to dry over night. We've never seen so many white clothes and towels hung in a church yard! Even a picture couldn't do justice to the sight. We went back to Kyambeke the next day to pick up the loaned clothes from the mission office and found all the clothes drying in the chapel after church. It was so cold and wet they hadn't dried. No one minded the extra work as we were all still remembering the wonderful baptism day when the ZEE's and others finally made it to what President Kaseve calls, “The Waters of Mormon in Kyambeke.”

Finding Baptism Blothes

"Waters of Mormon" at Kyambeke

      

Younger Group Baptized

Older ZEE's Baptized!

      

RS Sisters Washing Baptism Clothes

Baptism Clothes and Towels Hung out to Dry

      

Baptism Clothes Drying After Church!

Elder B Resting While Baptism Clothes Washed!

We feel great gratitude for the many experiences we have been allowed to share on this mission and our previous mission. There is such a need all over the world for couple missionaries. When you are “old” you can say and do some things the young missionaries can't.

We love you and keep you in our prayers. Have a good week.

Update 8.23.2010

Bites and Blessing - Elder Blake's bites were getting worse – more numerous and frequent. He was referred to a dermatologist again who performed a biopsy which was just returned and indicated extreme insect bite reaction. We just don't know what kind. Wednesday morning at our prayer meeting in Mitini he was given a priesthood blessing. We are going back to the doctor today. Things will (must!) get better.

What? No Clothes! - We packed for a five-day trip to the Hills, and after many trips loading things in the truck (food, suitcases, lesson materials, branch supplies etc.), we were on our way. Wednesday evening we finished our teaching day and began putting things away in our Kikoko flat. Our conversation went like this: Elder Blake: “Where are our clothes in the hanging bags?” Sister Blake: “I haven't seen them. They must still be in the truck.” Elder Blake:”No, they aren't in the truck. Didn't you load them?” Sister Blake: “No, I thought you did. Didn't you?” Blaming each other didn't seem to help. We were stuck with one set of already used (worn that day) clothes to last for five days. // Thursday we wore what we called our “cleanest dirty clothes.” By Friday we were really ready for a change and luckily the Elders were driving a truck to Kikoko to deliver something to our Kilungu missionary's flat before going somewhere else. They got up early and delivered our clothes before we had to leave. We were two very grateful missionaries!

Music and Pictures in Matua – Wednesday afternoon we went to the new Matua area and met with about 30 family members who were waiting for us in their yard. We are trying to help build leadership and gospel knowledge as this area is being prepared for a new branch. How do you teach music to a group from babies to older grandparents (neither of which speak English!)? We took a large laminated poster that is white on the back to use for a whiteboard. One of the brothers stuck a stick in the mortar of the house for us to hang it on. We took songbooks and the keyboard (which they love), and after an opening hymn and prayer, began to teach them how to lead three beats to a measure hymns. They all practiced and laughed and enjoyed themselves – even getting brave enough to stand in front in groups of four and conduct one verse. // This was followed by dividing the gospel pictures and telling scripture stories about Christ and about pioneers with a little church history. They seemed to enjoy being together and learning and we were invited to come back. We'll probably go every other week. 

Family in Matua Watching Joseph Smith Story (Note Portable Battery DVD Player)

Cardboard Keyboard – School is on break right now and many of the young people come to mid week classes. One young man (about 12-years-old) came to Kyambeke two weeks ago prepared to learn to play the keyboard. There aren't any extra keyboards and I wasn't sure how serious he was. He listened intently and I gave him a little cardboard picture of a keyboard and some exercises to do. This week he was back with his “keyboard” in hand ready for the next lesson. We wish we could teach the young people as they learn so quickly but with school, especially boarding school, they aren't around. He assured us he would be back at the next break!

Visits in the Hills – When we stay in the Hills we don't have to hurry home and it allows us to make home visits to the families of new members, investigators and others. It's one of the best parts of our mission! Thursday, two YSA's from Kyambeke, Phidelis and Catherine, rode with us to show us the way along narrow, steep, mountain trails to visit one of our friends, Margaret, who married recently. Her husband is not a member and we had not met him. She lives almost 5 kilometers from the church and walks. It's uphill all the way home! What a wonderful visit with her, her husband and mother-in-law and neighbors. They have a little kiosk on the top of a mountain. We felt so welcome. Even her shy husband warmed up to Elder Blake as they looked through his binoculars! We hurried from there to show “Finding Faith in Christ” (on the family Christmas gift DVD player) in the home of the carpenter at Precious Blood and his family. There was a wonderful spirit there.

Margareg in Blue with Sister B, Phidelis and Catherine

We love the little bare feet!

The next day we went with Sister Elizabeth, RS President in Ilima, to visit her elderly parents who are not able to walk the long way to church. They live by Elizabeth, who walks around and over a mountain about 1 ½ hours each way to get to church. They have recently carved a “road” (trail) into that area (the kind I shut my eyes most of the way!) with hand tools. If they walked on the road to church, it would take them 4 hours. Her parents were so gracious and wanted us to come in and visit, and Elder Blake to bless their home and family.

Our next stop was the Jackson family who have brand new twin girls. They were born at home and twins were a surprise! What beautiful little babies born in a humble, tiny two-room mud home. (Total measure of the home is 9 by 12 feet.) That makes 7 children. Humble home, but sweet spirit in the family. We took biscuits (cookies) to share with the family and it was a special treat for them. Have we mentioned before, “We'll never be the same after this?​?” When life essentials are met, “things” just aren't that important to having the Spirit in a home. We also had a prayer with the family.

Sis. Blake, Sis. Elizabeth and Sis. Jackson w twins

Elder Blake, Bro Jackson & Children w/Sis. Elizabeth

      

Elder Blake Showing Children their Pictures on Phone

Our final visit was at Sister Elizabeth's home where we parked at the top and walked far down into a valley. (I kept saying to myself, “What goes down must come up.) Where we parked there was a family gathering of some non-member neighbors who were preparing for a wedding. They insisted we come and greet everyone. We kept thinking that we'd met everyone, but walking from hut to hut there were a dozen more people around each hut, totaling probably 60-70 people. It was a nice missionary contact. Not many Mzungus (if any) have ever laid their feet in that area. Sister Elizabeth fed us rice, stew, chapatis, and bananas out of her shamba. Elder Blake was asked to bless her home and shamba. She's a wonderful, strong sister and feels like a real sister to Sister Blake. She's a great RS President and is teaching the sisters so many new life skills as well as spiritual training. We arrived home late, after dark, tired but so full of love for and from the people.

Sister Elizabeth and Extended Family

Cookies in a Charcoal Oven – For RS on Friday Sister Blake was asked to demonstrate how to make cookies. None of the sisters had ever made cookies and they only have the charcoal oven at the church. We made snickerdoodles and had a wonderful time. No electricity, no mixer, no one had ever used vanilla, cinnamon, or cream of tartar. They'd never even smelled cinnamon. Talk about down to basics. It was so much fun. They loved rolling the dough in balls and dipping the balls in cinnamon and sugar. It was hard to explain leaving room between the balls on the cookie sheet so they could spread out. They loved the cookies and they cooked very well in the charcoal oven to my surprise. I gave them each a little bag of cream of tartar and a recipe. They could make their own cookies without vanilla and cinnamon, but not without cream of tartar!

     

RS Sisters Baking Cookies First Time Ever     - Charcoal Oven (One Per Each Branch)

All-Africa Helping Hands Day – Saturday was the All-Africa Helping Hands Day. We took the missionaries (new Elder Thornton) with us to help a little at all three branch projects. Luckily, two branches were working in Kyambeke. We cleaned the villages and helped renovate and paint the public toilets. The brooms we used were made of branches tied to a tree limb. They worked quite well! The Mitini saints had to walk from their homes to church (some, over an hour away) and then walk to Kikoko (1 hour) before they even started to work. They worked so hard and loved being together. It was a good introduction to the Church for the villagers and so appreciated.

Above and Below - All Africa Helping Hands Day

              

Too Long – Sorry this is so long! Please just view pictures or read in sections. There's just too much to tell! We love you and keep you in our prayers. Have a good week.

Update 8.16.2010

Chicken in a Box – Not Kentucky Fried! - Tuesday after classes in Kilili we took four sisters back to Nairobi with us for a special leadership training. As we were loading their bags for the trip we noticed a box containing a live chicken as a gift for a Nairobi relative's dinner! [Picture] We had a delightful trip except for some sisters' being car sick. 

Leadership Training – The training included all priesthood leaders as usual but added all Primary, YW, and RS Presidents and one RS Counselor. Elder Blake and President Broadbent taught the Priesthood. They discussed welfare and self reliance issues that are a great concern to leaders here where members have so little. The sisters enjoyed getting better acquainted with Sister Broadbent as she did a wonderful auxiliary training for them. The sisters had never been invited before and really enjoyed this special occasion.

Funeral in the Hills – Early Friday morning found us at the Machakos mortuary preparing to lead a funeral procession for John Masila. After an hour's drive we met in Kikoko with the motorcycle honor brigade who led the way with lights flashing and sirens blaring to his final resting place at his home near Mitini. After parking the vehicles in the valley, the grandsons carried the casket and all walked up the steep hill to his home where the funeral was held. The Mitini Branch was in charge of the services though a village elder conducted. John's wife and daughter-in-law are members of the Church. John had been attending and learning English to be ready for baptism. (Elder Blake had taken a picture of John in the English class and we were able to make a nice picture for the family for the funeral.) About 200 family members and friends attended and were fed by the Relief Society. (No disposable dishes – just rinse and reuse.) Family and friends spoke, then President Kaseve and Elder Blake. Elder Blake essentially explained the Plan of Salvation and showed a picture of the Savior. People, most of whom were not members, seemed to feel the spirit of the message even if they didn't understand all of the English. The branch choir sang many hymns while people were eating and during the actual burial. Family members were so appreciative and many said they will join us at Church.

Bringing the body home

Funeral Meal

      

Elder Blake Speaking

Mitini Choir Singing

      

Baptism in the “Waters of Mormon at Kyambeke” – Many of the Kilungu Hills baptisms take place in the Kyambeke font and President Kaseve likes to call it the “Waters of Mormon in Kyambeke.” This was a special day for Brother Simon (age 50?) who is the only member in his family (we visited his home last week). As he came out of the water he was heard to reverently exclaim “Halleluah, praise the Lord.” as he humbly looked skyward. Sister Mary (age 20?) who has been studying English and studying the gospel diligently, was also baptized. Her husband is seriously investigating and will be baptized soon. What a beautiful day and a nice ending to Elder Berg's mission as he is leaving for home this week. After the baptism the new members each bore testimony and you could feel their happiness and love for the Gospel [Picture]. What a blessing to be involved in seeing lives change and growth occur in people's lives.

Mitini Baptism at Kyambeke

Sister Mary's Daughter and Baby

Youth “investigators” – While waiting for the baptism to begin (about 90 minutes), many young neighbor kids come cautiously peering into the church. Elder Blake invited them in (two groups at different times) and sat them around a table to look at the scores of beautiful pictures in the LDS Gospel Picture Kit . To about 10 youth seated around the table, he handed 2-3 pictures to each person for them to look at; and told them gospel stories about selected pictures. They smiled happily and listened intently to the stories of Jesus, Book of Mormon stories, etc. As he left one group to visit with others, he happened to glance up as the first group was marching out of the building... and lo and behold, there was not one picture left on the table. They thought the pictures passed to each of them were gifts, and were excitedly carrying them to their homes! We all laughed about the misunderstanding; and they were not terribly disappointed to each be given their own pass-along card instead. [Picture]

Mombasa Promise Fulfilled – When we visited Mombasa in July we met a convert member of the Church living there (age 26?) whose family are not members and live in the Kyambeke area. We took some pictures of him and he wrote a warm letter for us to deliver to his parents, along with an Ensign magazine. We didn't know exactly which was their home, but as we were climbing the path on a long hill, we saw an elderly lady in her yard and showed her the picture. Her eyes lit up, as he grabbed and caressed the picture to her heart. It was her far-away son and she was so happy. She called the family together and put chairs in the yard for us to sit down. We met her husband and other teen-aged family members (thankfully some knew English) and had a very special visit. We left with gifts of two eggs and an avocado the children climbed the tree to pick. The Kyambeke Branch President and some of the young men will visit soon, and invite them to learn more about their son Emanual's new church.

More Time in the Hills – We are spending longer periods of time working in the Kilungu Hills branches, where we stay at Precious Blood Girl's School up to five days some weeks. It has made a big difference in our ability to visit in people's homes and meet their extended families. What a blessing it is to us. It's a lot of work getting food, clothes, and everything we need to teach prepared ahead each week but we think it is making a difference. We love the people and are learning so many lessons about what is actually important in life. There are many cultural differences, but we are more alike than different. We will miss these friends when it is time to return to our home. We will probably never be able to return but there will be a wonderful reunion in heaven!

Have a good week and remember we love you.

Update 8.9.2010

Voting Day Holiday – In Kenya, voting day is a holiday. In 2008 presidential election, 1000 Kenyans from opposing groups were killed and many others displaced from their homes. This year the election was for adoption of a new national constitution, and thankfully the violence was avoided. // Where we were in the Hills, we hardly knew the polling was happening except for seeing people with black dye on their left little finger which signified they had voted. Our day was spent in Mitini with the YM and YW of the branch (about 62 of them!) who are on vacation from schools. We had a scripture and LDS pictures activity for them, and then watched Man from Snowy River. They could identify with the mountain country and enjoyed the horse scenes and it was fun for a change. From Mitini we went back to Precious Blood where we had an appointment to show Finding Faith in Christ to Sister Mary Joyce, School Principal and Head Nun at the convent. It was a very special experience as the spirit was there and she seemed really moved by it.

Visits in the Hills - Along with teaching classes in Kyambeke and Ilima, we were able to make some home visits to some new converts and investigators, since we were staying at Kikoko and not trying to hurry back to Nairobi. What enjoyable experiences. We visited Tom's family (convert we found along the road on baptism day a couple of months ago who had been praying to find us so he could be baptized). His wife was there and several of his 8 children along with his mother who lives next door. We took cookies (biscuits) for the family to share and they served a hot chocolate drink. They started and ended our visit with prayer and all walked us back up the trail to our car.

Another visit was to Brother Simon (investigator who lives a long way from the church but is looking forward to his baptism this coming Saturday with excited anticipation), and Brother Julius (baptized 2 weeks ago) who are good friends, and have lived on the same side of the hill as neighbors to each other all their lives. They have just recently put in a road quite near their homes and told us we were the first Mzungus to ever visit their homes, and the first vehicle to drive the road. Brother Simon's family was not home but he accompanied us to Brother Julius' home and we enjoyed meeting his wife (non-member) and some of his 8 children. We also took cookies to these homes and were served more hot chocolate plus pumpkin (squash) and bread. They wanted us to stay longer to visit and talk more about the gospel but it was getting late and we wanted to get back to Kikoko by dark. We wished we had had our camera with us as they live in such a beautiful place and grow pineapple along with the rest of the regular shamba crops. They seem hungry to learn more about the gospel and appreciated a visit at their home.

Dinner with the Elders – Thursday night we picked up the Elders and had a nice spaghetti dinner with them as Elder Berg will be leaving for home (in Soda Springs, ID) soon. (He says he doesn't want to think about it.) As the first young missionaries in the Kilungu Hills area, he has loved his Kenya mission experience. He enjoys adventure, and Sunday we asked him if he had prayed for the adventure he had with us that day! (see below).

Watermelon from Elder Berg's Garden - More Fertilizer?

Native Bow and Arrows - Elder B Bought one too

 Kilungu Hills Four Branch YM/YW Activity – Nestled in a valley in the beautiful Kilungu Hills is the Kyambeke Branch which was the gathering place for over 200 YM and YW and their leaders on Saturday for the first ever combined activity. (August is vacation from school month, so we saw many youth who are away to boarding schools that we don't regularly see.) Many walked up to 1½ to 2 hours to attend, and the Kilili Branch rented a bus to bring their youth. They were greeted by youth leaders as they entered the gate of the church compound; who also helped them with color-coded name tags for “mixer” games throughout the day. To start, they were given a pencil-paper “get acquainted activity” where they were to find someone in a different branch, who: had a brother or sister on a mission or could say an Article of Faith, etc. There was great excitement as they met new friends with same beliefs, standards, and values!

During opening exercise, branch presidents and leaders were introduced and instructions were given for the morning activities. Each of the four branches had prepared a workshop session and the youth were able to rotate to each session each half hour. Their color-coded name tags helped divide them into random groups to meet new friends. The workshops were wonderful. They included: scripture chase, how to lead a hymn, how to be a member missionary, and an inspirational video Finding Faith in Christ. We enjoyed seeing how much they enjoyed the workshops and also seeing the growth they experienced by preparing their own workshop.

After lunch (bread and soda) each branch had prepared a game to present for the group. We were going to have them going on simultaneously but they all wanted to watch each other so the games were short sessions of musical chairs, tug of war, balloon relay, and volley ball. This was all followed by the movie The Other Side of Heaven about Elder Groberg's mission. They hated to leave and wished it could have gone on longer and are already planning for what they will do next time – mainly, have more time together, like a couple of days.

Our hearts were full as we sat at the front of the chapel and looked out over the group of over 200 beautiful young people and saw them with their scriptures and enjoying being together and learning more about the gospel and socializing and making new friends. We could almost visualize what the Church will be like here in a few years when they are the leaders and are able to teach and raise their children in the gospel. We also loved seeing the leaders from the different branches visiting and sharing ideas more than they had been able to do before.

We were exhausted by the time we arrived back in Kikoko but felt very blessed and HONORED being able to be involved in the lives of these beautiful young people.

     

       

Top left -Youth Leaders for Activity from Kyambeke; Top Right-Scripture Chase; Center- Group Picture;

Bottom Right- Game; Bottom Left-Elder and Sister Blake and Elder and Sister Nevin from Office

Sunday Adventure with New Mission President – Sunday dawned with a misty morning the day for Ilima Branch conference to be attended by the new Mission President and his wife. Since we had stayed the night at Precious Blood School, we received a call about 7:00 a.m. asking if it was raining, since we had previously warned them about what the roads are like in the rain. We assured them that we were just experiencing mist (fog). Shortly thereafter it began to rain in earnest! We picked up the Elders in Kalongo and started for Ilima calling to tell President Broadbent and the Nevins about the rain, and that we would go ahead and check out the road conditions before they got that far. We made it through the first slick spot, then had a feeling we should go back to help them if needed. We arrived just in time to see them slide off the road. The next half an hour or so was spent taking turns falling off the road and helping each other get back on. The young Elders got out (Elder Berg got the adventure he was looking for) and were helping with ropes, and Elder Blake and Elder Nevin took turns also. They were all sporting red clay-mud on shoes, pants, and even shirts before we were through! Sister Broadbent kept saying she would rather get out and walk all the way there. On one of the slick spots when they went off the road she told us her eyes were shut and she said, “Are we dead yet!” What an introduction to the Hills.

We called the branch president and reported that we would be late, so they switched the meetings around so that Branch Conference Sacrament Meeting was last. After another prayer for safety we continued on our way and made it to the high-on-the-hill branch, Ilima. President and Sister Broadbent were both able to go first to primary and greet the children. They are such loving people... the children, parents and leaders could all feel it. It was a wonderful experience for all. The other meetings were very inspirational and we were all glad that we didn't give up and go back. We wondered if the attendance would be small because of the weather but the building was crowded as usual and members were so happy to get to meet the new president and his wife. The branch choir sang and everything went well. We feel their love for us and for the Kenyan saints. Theirs is an inspired call to serve here.

Thanks for your love and prayers. You are in ours. Have a good week.

Update 8/2/2010

Rededication – Whenever there are good things happening, such as a new temple or increasing missionary success, the adversary works extra hard to oppose the good. We have seen signs of that occurring in the new Matua area (60+ baptisms in past 8 months). It's hard on ministers of other churches who depend on donations for their living, when another church is gaining new memberships. One of the new Matua members has been listening to this opposition and is faltering.

After a good morning working with the Kilili Branch we picked up President Kaseve and Brother Francis from Wote where they were completing government forms to prepare for the Francis' family's trip to the temple. They showed us a shortcut through the back roads and valleys to Kalongo where the missionaries live. We piled eight of us into our truck and headed for the new Matua area for a large family meeting. The family all gathered outside in the shade where a very special meeting ensued, where expressions of love and support were given by the branch presidency, elders quorum president, missionaries, and Elder Blake. Counsel was given to help withstand opposition and stay true to the course. Sister Blake gathered the children around and told them the story of Christ's visit to the Nephites and His love of the children and sang the new primary song with them as she talked of the importance of taking the children to primary where they could learn more about Jesus.

We think these special new members could feel the Spirit there and hope they can be strong in the gospel while they wait for a new branch in their area.

Ups and Downs – During our early walk we heard the Precious Blood girls beginning their morning devotional. We slipped in quietly to join them for a few minutes. Sister Mary Joyce asked Elder Blake to greet the girls and told them that we were missionaries and that we were doing good things in the area. We really appreciate the association we have with these dedicated nuns and the mutual respect that we feel. Next Wednesday we are going to show the nuns the Finding Faith in Christ DVD. (Thanks Dad Blake and Ruth for the DVD.)

Besides teaching our classes we made one scheduled trip to take an investigator to the hospital. After Mitini classes we were taking the Chuvi brothers to meet with their branch president as, unbeknown to them, we had brought their mission calls with us from Nairobi. As we started down the hill we saw a large group of about 25 people hurrying up the hill. Several were holding the edges of a blanket like a stretcher with a body inside. They were carrying an unconscious man to the hospital about 4 miles from there! The Chuvi brothers got out and we loaded the man and two relatives into the truck for a trip back to the hospital!

On our return we found the brothers and took them to the high-on-the-hill branch, Ilima for the exciting moment of receiving the long awaited letters from Salt Lake. We walked with them down the hill to their home where they opened their letters and will be serving in Uganda and Cape Town South Africa. What an exciting time for them and for their family (and for us!)
    

Missionary Ministering – Thursday we didn't have classes but had felt impressed to stay in the hills and make some visits. We visited with two families. One was the Relief Society president in Kyambeke who had just returned from the hospital in Nairobi. We found her sitting alone in a dark room of her house (no electricity) listening to her battery radio. Elder Blake was able to give her a blessing of comfort, which she received with gratitude. We had a wonderful visit which would have been worth the whole trip. He husband died 2 years ago as they were preparing to go to the temple (she went alone); and her son is serving a mission in Uganda. 
     

As we were starting down the hill toward home we received a call for an emergency hospital run to a larger hospital in Machakos with the investigator we had taken to the Kikoko Hospital the day before. We rushed to the hospital and picked up the patient, his son, and President Kaseve. Another priesthood blessing for peace, and we were on our way 45 minutes over bumpy back roads. After the patient and family were settled, we started for home and were met in Nairobi by long traffic jams, where it took us about an hour to get to our flat in the dark. What a rewarding work we are involved in. We feel deeply the blessings that come from service. These same feelings have come to us at other times but they seem to be magnified when we are able to spend more time up in the Hills with the people.

The patient in Machakos hospital died the next day. He was one of our English-learning investigators  not yet baptized because he couldn't understand enough English to pass the interview. We'll participate in the funeral next week; and likely serve as the hearse to take the casket from Machakos to his home, where he will be buried in the shamba near the house. Kenyans in the Hills guard the graves of their loved-ones with much reverence.

Have a good and safe week. We love you.