A Kenyan Friend in Buckingham Palace

One of the other senior couples here, Elder & Sister Ford, are Church Public Affairs specialists for this area which includes Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.  Part of their assignment is to keep up the Kenya blogsite and the facebook site.  (I think they may keep up blogs for each of those other countries but I haven't checked it out myself).  They travel all over the area seeking out interesting and positive news of the Church here in Africa.  The blogsite is www.mormonnewsroom.co.ke.  I don't know what the facebook site is since I, being the rebellious sort that I am, don't do facebook.

Check out this article:  http://www.mormonnewsroom.co.ke/article/kenyan-mormon-honored-by-queen-of-england.

The story is about the son of a man we work with at the Service Center here in Nairobi.  He's so proud of his son, as he should be.  His son got to stay at Buckingham Palace for a week!

Our friend, James Kyulu's, son receiving an award for "innovation by youth" from Queen Elizabeth.  How cool is that?!  Too bad James wasn't invited to be there to actually watch it.  Oh well.  Not too many people get invited to meet the Queen.  I think she's a very lovely lady and I've always respected her.  She has done a lot of good in the world.

And on the same page, there's an article about our new Mission President, President Msane and his wife, Sister Msane.  Check out <http://www.mormonnewsroom.co.ke/13353166033189290675>.  This picture was taken at our mission office in front of a picture of the Second Coming of the Savior in clouds of glory.

I Feel OLD Here

I've been noticing that LeRon and I are the oldest people around.  Wherever I look, there are people younger than us . . . at the mall . . . on the streets . . . at the mission office . . . at church . . . in our compound.  EVERYONE is younger than us!!  Where are the people our age?  Are they at home (and never go anywhere?)  Are they in a senior lodge?  WHERE are they?!

So I asked google.  And google told me that the median age in Kenya is 18 and the life expectancy is 59 years!  So.  WE REALLY ARE OLD!!!  We met a young man when we were out walking and I jumped over a mud puddle.  He looked absolutely astonished.  He said, "People in Kenya your age are never out jumping over mud puddles.  They are home in their rocking chairs!"  And he was serious.

I am so grateful for our church which encourages seniors like us to go out and make a difference in the world.  Yes, we are old.  But . . . we have a lifetime of experience and hopefully a little bit of wisdom.  And we are here on this mission trying to spread the bright light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today in the opening prayer at sacrament meeting, a good black brother prayed for peace in Kenya and for surrounding nations who are so troubled by war.  It was a beautiful petition to the Lord to bless his sons and daughters here in Kenya.  In our CTR (Choose the Right) Primary class, we talked about the war in heaven and how it wasn't a war with guns and bombs (and machetes and knives, one of the little girls put in), it was a war of words:  Satan trying to get the people on his side and Jesus sweetly and lovingly encouraging us to "Choose the Right."

Getting back to the issue of age . . . we helped celebrate Elder Arudo's 28th birthday!  See the pictures below.

Today, August 5th, is Elder Arudo's birthday (on left).  Elder Arudo and Elder Wafula have discovered my blog.  Here they are reading it while they munch on birthday popcorn.  We brought some microwave popcorn to help celebrate the birthday.

Here's the birthday boy, Elder Arudo, with his bowl of popcorn.  The Torries traditionally eat popcorn on Sunday evenings.  So we thought we would share this tradition with Elder Arudo.

So fun to work with these amazing missionaries.

On Saturday, the power was off in the whole country for about 12 hours.  So LeRon and I went to Tamambo's for lunch.  Tamambo's is on the Karen Blixen estate here in the Karen district of Nairobi.  It is a lovely restaurant in a very beautiful setting.  Eric (on left) is a local artist who sells his wares at the restaurant.  Oh oh.  Elder Torrie is on the lookout for more paintings!

It was a cool day.  I was glad I wore the wool sweater that I bought here.  Hot soup and hot chocolate warmed us up.

LeRon was very taken with the bottom painting. Very interesting collage of zebras.

And I was taken with the tree in the background.  It is a "Brugmansia Candida" also known as a trumpet tree.  Very striking.

Here's a close-up of the trumpet tree's flower.

The flowers hang down like trumpets.  So lovely.

I didn't take this picture, but I saw this beautiful bird right outside my window.  It was just sitting on the clothesline with its long chestnut-colored tail hanging down.  Gorgeous!  I was so glad I had bought a bird book of "Birds of East Africa."  I discovered that the bird is an "African Paradise Flycatcher."  How cool is that?  Today coming home from Rongai, we also saw baboons playing by the road and several huge ugly looking warthogs.  I know baboons and warthogs are dangerous and yet there they were just beside the road with pedestrians walking along and they were totally ignoring each other.  This is definitely a wild and interesting country!!!

Doing the Masai Jump (explained in a previous post)

New Missionaries Always Make for A Happy Day

We welcomed our seven new missionaries today.  They all stayed at the Mission Home.  With all the new bunk beds at the Mission Home, they can sleep 14 missionaries plus the president and his wife.  It's a fun, homey atmosphere to bring new missionaries to.

We oriented them, and gave them some training.  So great to see the excitement of these young missionaries.  They bring youth but they also bring exuberance for life and strong testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They will be great ambassadors for Christ here in Kenya and also in Tanzania.

Sister Msane is giving two new Elders, Elder Noel and Elder Cox, some medical training:  Don't drink the water.  Take your doxycycline to prevent Malaria.  Wash your fruits and vegetables in bleach water and then rinse in filtered water.  Use mosquito repellant.  Use sunscreen, especially since the doxy tends to make you sunburn more.  Lots of good advice.

Sister Ndonga and Sister Gondwe will be companions for the next six weeks.  Sister Gondwe is brand new.  Don't they have beautiful smiles?

And here is Elder Otika, Elder Mwaja and Elder Butters.  Elder Butters is brand new.

Elder Wafula (on right) is one of the President's Assistants and he helped with the training.  What's with that funny look, Elder Wafula?  Are you mad at me?

Elder Arudo and Elder Wafula, being the Assistants to the President, helped out with the training.  They are great missionaries!  They will make strong leaders of the church in Kenya in the coming years.

Black and white Elders with the Kenyan flag.  Don't tell anyone that I thought it was a lady bug on the flag.  But actually it is a tribal shield and spears.  They told me the meaning of the colors but I can't remember right now.  Trainer Elder Emmanuel with new Elder Noel; new Elder Cox with trainer Elder Mwaja.

More black and white and beautiful smiles.  Elder Musonda, Elder Otika, Sister Gondwe, Sister Ndong'a, Elder Egbert.

Fun to be together!  Elder Egbert, Elder Covarrubias, Elder Muthiani, Elder Cox, Elder Mwaja.

This is the whole group -- the President and his wife, the Assistants, the new missionaries and their seven trainers.  Oh and Elder Torrie is in there too.  I'm taking the picture.  L-R front:  Elder Wafula, Elder Egbert, Elder Musonda, President Msane, Sister Ndong'a, Sister Gondwe, Elder Covarrubias with Elder Mwaja helping to hold the flag, Elder Muthiani, Elder Akpu, Sister Msane; Back L-R: Elder Butters, blond Elder Cotts, Elder Noel, Elder Cox, Elder Emmanuel.  In very back: Elder Otika and Elder Torrie.

Days are Getting Warmer

We haven't used our little heaters in about a week now.  The days are getting warmer though it still cools down at night, thankfully.  We don't have air conditioning but our flat stays really cool with all its cement and tile.  Plus we're on the ground level where the trees shade us.  So as it gets warmer and warmer, which we are assured it will do, I think our flat will stay nicely cool.  I still wear a sweater every day in the office but outside the sunshine is very intense.

I've been fighting a bad cold; they call it the "flu" here but I think it's really just a bad cold.  Now I've been very kind and I gave it to LeRon.  So now I am taking care of him like he took care of me for the past couple of weeks.  It's a nasty bug, whatever it is.  Everyone is coughing and they say it's just because it's so cold.

We've still gone into the mission office most days.  We've been getting ready for seven new missionaries to come -- one from Zambia and the others from the US.  Lots to do.  There's a lot to keeping track of all the missionaries to be sure they are safe and accounted for.  I had no idea till we came here.  Every night (did I say this before?) each companionship phones in to their district leaders who then report to their zone leaders who then report to the AP's (Assistants to the President) who then report to the President.  That way we know each missionary is safe.  Sister missionaries have to be in their flats by 6 p.m.  Elders (the young men missionaries) have to be in by 7 p.m. in Nairobi and by 8 p.m. in the rest of the mission.  Good to have rules!

Now for a few pictures . . .

The Karen Hospital is a very modern, up-to-date private hospital a 5-minute drive from where we live.  Many people who live in our compound work here.  If we ever have to go to the hospital, this is the place to go!  Many of the doctors are from India.  Highly intelligent and very well trained.

I look really stupid in this picture.  I'll tell you what it's about . . . Our former mission president, President Hicken and our immigration employee, (2nd from left) always did a "Masai jump" when work permits for missionaries came through.  Now that Pres Hicken has gone home, I told Dickens (our immigration employee) that I would do the Masai jump with him.  So then others got into the act, with Victor (2nd from right) one of our drivers, and Elder Arudo joining in.  You have to stand straight with your arms at your side.  Then you jump up as high as you can and down, take a break and do it again.  You should see the video of it.  It's hilarious.  I might try putting it on.  Elder Arudo says you also have to stick your chin out and make this grunting noise.  It was so funny.

Lots of hay for sale along the road side.  Lots of horses in this area.  They don't even shy for vehicles.

Notice the reddish dust on this plant.  These plants grow along the roadside and are constantly covered with the red dust that kicks up from pedestrians, bikers and even cars.

The yellow vehicle ahead is one of those cute 3-wheeled conveyances that act as very cheap taxis.  I bet they're awfully hot in the summer.  Click on the picture for a closer look. 

We work with Bishop Peter.  He is our employee who helps LeRon with housing for all the missionaries.  He's a great worker and we couldn't get along without him.  We had him and his family over for an evening of fun.  We taught them the "Chicken Dance," the "Bunny Hop," and the "Butterfly".  It was so fun.  Next to LeRon is Bishop Peter (who is really the Bishop of his Ward) holding his daughter on his shoulders, and his wife next to him holding their youngest daughter.  Next to them are Samuel and Hellen, their nephew and niece who also live with them.  Cute smiles, eh?

Here's Bishop Peter and his wife Pauline. 

And our neighbors, our little African grandchildren, came over and joined in the fun too.

Here's our neighbor Sammy with his two children, Joy and Prince.  They all had great fun dancing with us.

School children in Kenya have long days.  Often from 8 a.m. till 4:30 or 5 p.m.  They walk to and from school.  All wear school uniforms.  I wish it were safe for school children in America to walk to and from school but not anymore . . . Sad.  This is another way that I see Kenya as we were 50 or 60 years ago.

LeRon's Missionary Experience

You hear all the time from me (Colleen).  And I've done several posts just today.  Now here is an experience that LeRon had this week at the Chemist's (the drugstore).

I had a wonderful missionary experience yesterday in a drugstore that I want to record.  We have heard and found it to be true that almost all Kenyans are very polite and will listen to a short missionary message without rolling their eyes or cutting you off.  We have found this not only to be true, but that some Kenyans are quite interested.  This happened to me yesterday.  I was in a pharmacy buying some more of the Singulaire antihistamine pills.  As the druggist finished telling me about the pills, I pulled out an Articles of Faith card, which I always carry, and proceeded to explain a bit about the church and what we believe and handed him the card. 

The store was empty of customers.  There was another druggist standing next to him.  He had been a few steps away but reached out for the card and asked if he could have one too.  I had 4 in my pocket total and 5 or 6 would have been better but they said they would share.  I turned to my left and there was another girl who worked there listening.  She took one and the cashier girl walked over and all 4 took the cards and began to read.  One of the girls read my name tag and asked what “Latter Day Saint” meant.  So I explained about the restoration and latter-day versus former-day.  I mentioned a few things that had been restored like Priesthood and Temples and the Book of Mormon.  It turned out that the first druggist had just been recently married and so I asked him if he loved his wife.  Of course he said yes and then I said that Colleen and I had been married 41 years and I talked about the world’s view of marriage “till death do you part” versus “families can be together forever”.  The other druggist then asked if that really meant what I said it meant and I said yes.

I felt I had taken quite a bit of time so I just invited them all to call the missionaries whose phone number I had written on the cards and to look online at mormon.org for more information.  One of the girls lives close to one of our chapels so she was familiar with the Church, at least where it was.  Anyway, it was a very choice experience to have the opportunity to tell people about our Church and its beliefs and have them all listen so attentively.  I need to work on my presentation some more.  I am not sure if I testified enough, in retrospect.  Anyway, it left me on a spiritual high that lasted throughout the day.  A mission is quite an adventure.

It's a Small World After All!

Last Sunday at Church, we met a young American -- Tim Olsen -- who was in Kenya for a conference.  Turns out he's related to Reva (Woodruff) Lybbert.  Reva grew up a mile away from us and we practically helped to raise her!!  She even babysat our kids.

You never know who you're going to meet.  I remember running into one of our son Craig's good friends from high school -- Aaron Van Kasteren -- in the jungle in Peru!!  (We were glad we were behaving ourselves -- which of course we always do!)

We invited Tim to hang out with us as we went to the Rongai Ward and then home to make some supper.  Then later in the week, we took him to the Kazuri Bead factory and then out for supper at the Karen Blixen estate.

Here we are with Reva & Justin Lybbert's cousin, Tim Olsen.

Our little "grandchildren," Joy and Prince, came over to see "the tall man" who was visiting us.

This picture should have been first.  Oh well.  I finally got a picture of this sign in Carrefour, a large Fench department store in "The Hub", one of the new malls.

And here's a "polite notice" sign.  You see these signs all over the place.  Kenyans are very polite people.  Click on the picture to see it close up.  This is in the Kazuri Bead factory.  I've told about Kazuri Beads in another post.  The factory started 40 years ago to give single mothers an income.  Now they make not only beads, but also pottery.  The clay comes from Mt. Kenya.

These look good enough to eat!  Yummy chocolate!  (Well, it looks like chocolate anyway).

We were lucky to be here near closing time.  The girls were loading the kilns so the beads could be fired overnight.

So interesting how they stack the beads inside the kilns.

The girls really enjoy working here.  They move around to different jobs so they don't get tired of doing the same thing over and over again.  And they love to get their picture taken.

Putting the beads together.

They make other kinds of pottery too.

On the left is before firing and on the right is after firing.  All the pottery is made to be food-safe and dishwasher safe.  I've never seen any dishwashers here in Kenya but maybe some of the wealthy people have them.

Tim Olsen tried a "Kenyan" dish at the Karen Blixen restaurant (Tamambo's).  I think the meat was a little tough.

Here's LeRon's food.  Some kind of fish.

This was my meal.  The salmon is always very tasty and the food well-presented.