Day of Training

The new arrivals and their trainers spent a day of training at the Mission Home.  Then a relaxing evening of food, visiting, and singing.

 

Elder Mahanzu and Elder Chenani

Elder Torrie training the new arrivals with trainer Elder Christensen looking on.  Safety issues.  Financial issues.  Housing issues.  All things the new missionaries need to know.

Elder Torrie training new missionaries Sister Acii, Elder Ncube, and Elder Ngele.

Elder Wafula, Elder Chenani, Elder Mwashi

More singing tonight.  Elder Hales, Elder Ellis, Elder Christensen, Elder Ncube, Elder Breidenbaugh, Elder Mwashi, Elder Ngele, Elder Chenani, Elder Wafula

Me with Elder Torrie and Elder Wafula just after we performed "Father Abraham" for the missionaries.  I will put that video on another post.

So fun to work with Sister Msane.  She's got a great sense of humor and a love of the gospel and of the missionaries.

Where are President and Sister Msane????

There they are!  And here are all the new missionaries standing next to their trainers.  Back L-R: new Elder Ncube, Elder Chenani, Elder Mwashi, new Elder Ngele, Elder Christensen, new Elder Shongwe, new Elder Breidenbaugh, Elder Wafula.  Front: Sister Njoroge, President and Sister Msane, new Sister Acii

Now just the new missionaries with President and Sister Msane.  L-R: Elder Ncube, Elder Ngele, Elder Shongwe, Sister Acii, Elder Breidenbaugh

Elder Ncube, Elder Breidenbaugh, Elder Mwashi singing

Elder Ngele, Elder Chenani, Elder Wafula

Elder Ellis, Elder Christensen, Elder Ncube

Elder Hales, Elder Ellis, Elder Christensen

Elder Wafula loves music and he loves to lead

Now President Msane has joined the group.  They are singing "The Army of Helaman."  President Msane, being a convert, never went to Primary and never learned this song.  Many of the Africans are also converts and never knew the Primary songs.

Elder Chenani, Elder Mwashi, Elder Ngele, Elder Wafula, President Msane, Elder Shongwe

I'm never in pictures so I asked for this one to be taken.

And this one.  I love these missionaries.  The sister missionaries had left for their areas so were not here this evening.

More ice cream for an evening snack.  Elder Wafula, Elder Chenani, Elder Mwashi, Elder Christensen

MLC and March Arrivals

Missionaries love to get together.  The MLC (Missionary Leader Council) and the Arrivals Dinner was a great opportunity.  So here are photos of your missionaries for you moms and dads out there.

Elder Hales, Elder Torrie, Elder Lotulelei, Elder Agesa, Elder Ellis, Elder Musonda, Elder Pavik, Elder Ngabonziza

Ha ha.  Elder Agesa is so funny!  Actually, they are all very fun people to associate with.

What is Elder Agesa doing?!

Elder Pavik, Elder Musonda, Elder Agesa and new Elder Ngele.

On right are Elder Wafula and Elder Le Cheminant (our fellow Albertan). 

Lovely Sisters Maina and Omo -- the only two sister missionaries at the MLC.

Elder Merritt and Elder Le Cheminant

I had no idea Elder Agesa was so funny until this evening.  He's showing off his Kentucky Fried Chicken and Sister Msane's delicious salads.

Elder Ellis, Elder Pavik, Elder Rasmussen

New Elder Shongwe, new Elder Ngele, Elder Ngabonziza, Elder Musonda, new Elder Ncube, Sister Maina

Elder Rasmussen, Elder Mahanzu, ?, ?, Elder Ellis, Elder Pavik

Sister Maina, Sister Omo, ?, ?, Elder Wafula, Elder Lotulelei, Elder Muzwenje.  I can't see the others because their faces are too dark.  Sad.  I should have done this right away before I forgot!

Elder Mahanzu, Elder Ngabonziza, Elder Agesa, Elder Ellis

"Are you going to eat the bone, Elder Wafula?"

Elder Merritt, Elder Hales, Elder Le Cheminant

Elder Musonda has glasses now.  Can you see better to eat your chicken?

Elder Mwashi washing dishes

Elder Torrie's job is always to scoop the ice cream.  He even bought a better ice cream scoop so as to do it better.  But these are the teeniest cones I've ever seen.  They don't hold much.  Ice cream cones are not common here in Kenya.

Elder Muzwenje, Elder Shongwe, Elder Ngele

I'm going to need help in labelling these pictures.  ?, ?, Elder Wafula, Elder Lotulelei

After dinner and after clean-up, the Msanes went to the airport to pick up Elder Breidenbaugh and so all the missionaries gathered round to sing hymns.  It was a heavenly experience to hear them sing "Ye Elders of Israel" and "As Sisters in Zion" and "Called to Serve."

New Elder Ngele (on left) and Elder Mahanzu (middle) look like they could be brothers but they are not even related. New Elder Ncube is on right.

We've often had sing-alongs at the mission home but this time everyone sang.  We sang for an hour and it was an amazing experience as missionaries chose songs to sing.  Even those that don't particularly like to sing joined it.  It was good for the soul and a great uplift to Elder Torrie and me.

Ah . . . at last a picture to show that I was there too.  I'm singing here with Sister Omo.

Farewell to Missionaries

It's always hard to say good-bye when missionaries come to the end of their service.  This time we only had to say good-bye to one -- Elder Mugele.  But we are also saying good-bye to Elder Wafula who has been assigned to a different area.  He has been an Assistant to the President for 10 months and we have worked closely with him in the office.  We will truly miss him.  I've always enjoyed his humor and friendliness but also his solid knowledge of the gospel and his ability to lead.  At the same time we say good-bye to Elder Wafula, we say hello to a new Assistant, Elder Ellis.  It will be good to get to know him.  He came on mission just 6 weeks after we did.

Relaxing at the Mission Home with a game of Scrabble.  L-R: Elder Mugele, Elder Torrie, Elder Hales.  My growing up family played a lot of Scrabble and so did LeRon and I and our kids.  In fact we brought a Scrabble game with us on this mission and have not played it even once.  No time or no energy by nighttime!  And Scrabble games are easily available here.  You can even buy them from the hawkers on the streets.

Incoming Assistant, Elder Ellis, and outgoing Assistant, Elder Wafula.

Elder Ellis is finding that the Assistants do a lot of dishes at the Mission Home!  Thank you, Elder Ellis and Elder Hales!

President and Sister Msane with Elder Wafula and Elder Mugele.

Sister Msane presenting a mission T-shirt to Elder Mugele.

Looks great, Elder Mugele!  A T-shirt to wear with pride, remembering a wonderful 2-year mission.

Elder Mugele with President and Sister Msane.

Next day, back in the Mission Office.  Elder Ellis's first day as an Assistant to the President.  Lots of work!

And Elder Musonda is helping me by doing some shredding.

"Hmn . . . " says Elder Ellis, "Tall shoes to fill!"  Outgoing Elder Wafula and incoming Elder Ellis.  Elder Wafula is heading to Kisumu to serve as a Trainer to a new missionary.

Why are We on a Mission?

What motivated us to serve a mission?  Simply our testimonies that the gospel is true and that the prophet asked seniors to serve missions.  (It's hard to think that we qualify as "seniors" but the calendar says we do!)  We've always known we would serve a mission in our "later years".

Both sets of parents served missions in their senior years.  My dad had had a stroke and had double vision and walked with a cane but they were still able to serve a Family History Mission in Salt Lake City, Utah.  My dad had not had the chance to serve a mission in his youth (although he was a stake missionary for many years as a young married man) so this was a wonderful experience for him and for my mom.  My brother served a mission in France in his youth and he and his wife Sara served a mission in Mauritius as seniors.  So my family definitely was thinking "missionary."

LeRon's parents have quite the story though.  During the Korean War, there were fewer Americans who could serve missions because of the military draft.  So Seventies Quorums in Canada were asked to provide missionaries.  Seventies Quorums at that time were in every local stake and they were generally composed of married men.

LeRon's dad was 34 and married with two children.  He had never served a mission as a young man and he and his wife felt that he should volunteer for a mission.  When he left a year later for the Great Lakes Mission, his wife was expecting LeRon.  LeRon was born three months after his dad left on his mission.  Two years later, his dad returned home to continue ranching and being a husband and father.  LeRon remembers meeting his dad for the first time when LeRon was two (at least he thinks he does -- he probably remembers his mother's stories of LeRon's reaction when his dad came home -- but don't tell LeRon!)

In their senior years, LeRon's parents served three missions.  LeRon and his four brothers all served missions in their youth.  LeRon's older brother Wayne and his wife Judy have served two missions as seniors.

And our three sons -- Michael, Craig, and Eric -- have all served missions.

So with our testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the missionary spirit in both of our families, how could we not serve a mission?!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

On March 6, we celebrated 42 years of marriage!  So glad we were married in the Cardston Alberta Temple 42 years ago.  "Forty-two years of laughter and tears!"  We plan to be married for 42 million more years!  I'm so grateful for temple covenants and ordinances which bind us together for eternity if we always choose the right and treat each other like eternal companions should.  We celebrated by working in the mission office all day and then going out for supper.  Nice to talk with each one of our kids over Voxer or Hangouts.  So glad we have such great communication clear across the world.

Today we stopped at The Hub to pick up some groceries for Sister Msane.  Where else but in Kenya would the security guards--who were searching my bag and scanning our bodies--ask for a pamphlet and information about the Church when they saw our name tags?  So nice to be able to talk to people here about the Church and find interest.

Some have asked about the drought conditions here.  It is very dry.  The leaves on many trees are starting to yellow and shrivel.  We hear that it's very serious in many parts of Kenya. There's water rationing in some housing compounds here in Nairobi.  So far our compound is okay -- probably because an important government official lives here!!  We have a bit of water storage in our flat and at the Mission Home and Office.  To see the drought conditions on Lake Victoria, see one of my previous posts about going to Kisumu.  We were shocked at how low the lake was and how hard it is on the fishermen who get their living from the lake.

When I'm not quite so tired, I'll pour through my photos and do a post on the new missionary arrivals and the recent MLC (Missionary Leader Council) so you moms and dads can see how great your sons are doing!  We are so privileged to work with these young missionaries.

Here we are on our anniversary morning, ready to head to the mission office.  We're getting good at doing selfies, something we don't usually do.

In the last two weeks I've seen more herds of cattle on the streets here in Nairobi.  More than usual.  I think they are coming here because of the drought and lack of food outside the city.  Tonight on the way home from the office, we saw a dead cow on the road that had been run over by a truck.  That also is unusual.  The cattle walk right next to moving vehicles all the time and they never have a problem.  I've seen cattle within inches of our vehicle and they never shy or get scared.  They just keep on going until they get to green grass beside the road or sometimes they stick their noses through a fence and eat palm trees.  They are so skinny that you can count their ribs.

This picture was taken out of the window at the Rongai church.  Notice the yellow jugs on the left.  People here often don't have access to clean water or even to any water so they have to carry their water in those yellow jugs.  You see them everywhere.  I feel so blessed to have water coming out of my taps even though only the kitchen sink has potable water.  And I feel so blessed to have potable water coming out of every tap in our house back at home in Canada.  We take so much for granted.  I was telling someone here that we have drinkable water in every tap in the house and they were incredulous.  Even in the bathroom, they asked?

This plant is growing outside next to our flat.  Some kind of palm-type tree but notice how very dry it is.  And James, the compound handy-man actually waters all the plants here.  But it is still very dry.  Does anyone know what kind of a plant this is?  I'm too tired tonight to look it up.