Starving Cattle and Hungry Missionaries

The Long Rains are long in coming this year.  We should be well into them but it's only showered a couple of times.  Last night it poured rain and tonight it is thundering.  Hopefully the rains will come.  The Short Rains that were to come last fall were too short and too late to do much good.  Cattle are starving and we can no longer find butter in the stores and some missionaries report that there's no milk.  So far, at least here in the Karen area of Nairobi, there's milk in the store.

I mentioned to one Kenyan that when there was a drought in Alberta, the members often fasted and prayed for rain and the rains always came.  The person was so surprised.  I don't think he had ever thought of fasting and praying for rain.  And he had never related rain with food.  So here in Nairobi, as in cities in the west, people don't realize where their food comes from.

I had a sore throat and fever last week and I was in bed for a couple of days.  So I didn't take pictures at the April MLC (Mission Leader Council) at the Mission Home.  LeRon went and took a few pictures so I'll put them in for you moms and dads.  Hungry missionaries enjoyed eating Sister Msane's home cooking.

Cattle are skin and bones.  They looked like they were going to fall over dead.  There's so many more herds of cattle grazing the sides of the road here in the city than there used to be.  There's always been herds of cattle but there are twice as many now.

Saw these beautiful flowers in the Galleria parking lot.  We've seen flowers like this in Thailand I think.  Lovely!

Sister Were (pronounced wear-ay) is finished her mission and ready to head home to Kisumu.  She's been a great missionary.  Elder Lotulelei and Elder Agesa are here for the MLC.  

The night of the MLC, two missionaries arrived from South Africa, Elder Mayekiso and Elder Somniso.  Now there are 6 South Africans in our mission (counting President and Sister Msane) and there are more to come.

Elder Musonda, Elder Wambua, Elder Mwashi having fun after the MLC.

Elder Mahanzu and Elder Njoga who was here to be released from his mission (I think to Ghana).  He's heading home.  Nice tie.  Elder Mahanzu serves in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Elder Thomas has spent the last week at the mission home nursing a bad ankle.  No more soccer for you, Elder Thomas!!  And there's Elder Wafula.  He served as an Assistant to the President for 10 months so we got to know him well.  Loved his sense of humor and his commitment to the gospel.  A great missionary.  He is now serving "out in the bush."

Elder Rasmussen and Elder Le Cheminant keep things lively!  We love them both.  We love all the missionaries.