You Ask . . . How Can We Help?

Some of you have asked how you can help the people of Kenya.  "Can I send clothes?" some of you ask.  How about toothpaste and soap or other sanitary supplies?  Well I'll tell you what I've learned.

 Elder Dale G. Renlund, who is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and has served for many years in Africa puts it this way:  "The greater the distance between the giver and the receiver, the more the receiver develops a sense of entitlement."  And that sense of entitlement is not what we want the good people of Kenya to feel.  We want them to have the self-esteem that comes with their own self-reliance.

Our church leaders here in South East Africa really discourage the many one or two-week humanitarian projects we see here.  They help and then they leave and the people are the same as they were before.  The adage, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" is so very true.

Self-reliance and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the best things we can give.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, one of our modern-day apostles has quoted a former president of the Church, Ezra Taft Benson, who said, “We don’t so much take people out of poverty or take them out of difficult settings as much as we teach them the gospel and they lift their eyes and their vision and they make their own way out of poverty. That principle is true.”  (See <http://www.mormonnewsroom.co.ke/article/emerging-with-faith-in-africa>).

LDS Charities, the Church's huge humanitarian effort began in 1985 in Ethiopia.  I remember participating in a special Church-wide fast and we donated the money we would have spent on food to the Church to help with the severe famine in Ethiopia.  $6.4 million dollars was donated on that one Fast Sunday.  (We also have a regular Fast Sunday once a month and donate money to help those in need.) You can read about the Ethiopia fast here: <http://www.ldsliving.com/Elder-Ballard-s-Miraculous-Trip-to-Ethiopia-the-Beginning-of-LDS-Charities/s/80514/?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=related>

The Church led out in helping Ethiopia and then many NGO's moved in to Africa.  Though well-meaning, in many cases, they have fostered dependence and a sense of entitlement, even among governments in the countries where they have done projects.  Many governments have learned how to "farm" the NGO's and the people have not been helped at all.

The Church works with reputable organizations such as Catholic Charities and the Red Cross to help people, members and nonmembers alike, worldwide, especially during natural disasters.  (See  <https://www.lds.org/topics/humanitarian-service/church?lang=eng>).  But on-going humanitarian efforts are geared toward not doing for others what they can and should do for themselves.  The Church policy is to help people learn to be self-reliant.  Yes, we can't see little children starving and do nothing -- we must step in and help.  But the Church's welfare system instructs people to meet their own needs and if they can't, for them to first turn to their own families, and then to their local leaders who are closest to them.  Elder Renlund says, "Because of their proximity to the givers, recipients who receive help according to this pattern are grateful and are less likely to feel entitled."

So you ask . . . how can we help?  The best way is to pay a generous Fast Offering and if possible, to donate to the Church's Humanitarian and Perpetual Education funds.  100% of these donations go to the people in need.  The Church takes no percentage for administration.  The Humanitarian programs are run by volunteers who pay their own way.  So . . . can you help the people of Kenya?  YES!!!

Check out another article about how a South African girl is helping South Africans:http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/09/africa/orange-drought-kiara-nirghin/index.html

Pictures to Share

I have a lot to say but I'm too tired to say it.  Maybe next post.  I remember a friend in Taber telling me that missionary sisters ought to wear pants so we would be like the locals.  Well, here in Kenya, women wear dresses.  That's just what they do.  It's mostly tourist women who wear pants.  So dresses are always in style here.  I don't know how that thought fits in with this post.

We had a quiet day at the office as only LeRon and I were in today.  LeRon was busy with finances and I was communicating with branch presidents and bishops about how to fill out missionary recommendations forms.  I had to send emails to about 65 people.  It kept me busy all day.  Then after we were finished we drove up to The Hub, the new mall which is close to our office to buy some cheese.  It's the only place we've found to buy mild cheese.  It costs about $12/lb!  On the way home, I took some pictures along the way.  When we got home, we went for a long walk and took more pictures.  Enjoy!

This is a very crowded street.  Matatus on the side waiting to pick up passengers.  Covered stalls selling a variety of food that they cook right there.  Not recommended for us mzungus (foreigners) to try.  I'm trying to be unobtrusive as I take the picture.  I should have zoomed in a little more.

I zoomed in on this picture and it was too much.  In the front is a handcart loaded with goods.  We don't shop along these streets.  For locals only.  But I bet there's good deals here.

Look at the lovely red soil.  I was trying to take a picture of the nursery plants but my camera is too slow and I got the motorbike instead.  A motorbike is certainly the way to go around here.  You can zip in and out of traffic very easily.  And motorbikes transport a lot of goods -- even Kentucky Fried Chicken.  On both sides of the road people set up their nurseries, which they water by hand.  I don't know if they have to pay for the use of the land or not.  I even saw someone planting a small garden alongside of the road.

In some areas, the streets are blocked off.  You can only go down them if they let you in.  This is the entrance to our neighborhood.  The guards know us and let us easily in.  A couple of times we changed trucks (we drive mission trucks) and the guards weren't going to let us in until they saw our faces.  They hadn't recognized the truck.  Nice to know they really don't let people in who shouldn't be there.

Now we're on our walk.  It's a lovely neighborhood.  The only trouble is that you can't see into the yards.  I'm sure they're very lovely.  But all we see is trees and walls and gates.

There's a section of the road with beautiful sculptured bushes along the way.  They look like chairs to me.

More chairs.  Somehow the light was reflecting funny.  And this was about 5:30 p.m. too -- just an hour before sundown.  Maybe my camera's set wrong.

I wish the pictures would do justice to the beautiful sculpturing.  Nairobi is a very beautiful city.  And all of these bushes are undoubtedly hand-sculpted.

I was going to try and sit in the bush but it didn't really work.  It was just a bit too tall.

I tried this chair too but I thought I might break it!  Such cool bushes!

I peeked through a hole in the wall and saw this lovely home with cows grazing beside it.  LeRon held the camera over his head and took the picture for me.  Nice to see inside those walls!

I can't get over how beautiful the bougainvillea are.  I wish they would grow like this in Alberta.

More gorgeous bougainvillea.

Click on this picture to enlarge it.  Here's an armed guard strolling down this road.  There are several homes along this road and I imagine he's paid to guard them all although each home has its own guard too.  Not all guards are armed.

Interesting tall trees reaching for the sunlight.

If there's not walls, then there are dense hedges and tall trees to guard each homestead.

This is the gate we drive into and out of every day.  Our guards are armed and very professional.  Some even wear suits and ties.  They are very fine people.  We enjoy visiting with them.  We're very happy to be living in such a nice place.

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.