Farewell Part I

Saying farewell to the sisters who are serving in the Langata Branch where we attend church.  Sister Ziribaggwa's name tag says Ziribagwa but it is actually spelled with two "g"'s.  Names are important to me and I like to get things right but somehow her name on her passport is spelled wrong but that's the spelling the church uses.

Sister Dhaima, Sister Torrie, Sister Ziribaggwa

Elder and Sister Torrie with Peggy of the Langata Branch.  Peggy has been taking piano lessons from Elder Torrie and she's doing great.  She practices and that makes all the difference.  One day she will be accompanying hymns in sacrament meeting.

Here we are with Langata Branch members Peggy and Sharon.  Sharon was the Primary president that we worked with but on our last Sunday, she was released and Peggy was called as the new Primary president.  We will miss these sweet sisters.

Elder Torrie with Joseph Poche and other members of the Langata Branch.

On our last Sunday night, we had President and Sister Msane over for food and visiting, along with the two new couples, the Sutherlands and the Shurtliffs.

I love to take candids of President and Sister Msane!

Aren't the Msanes a sweet couple?

Elder and Sister Sutherland are replacing us in the office and they will live in our flat.

Elder and Sister Shurtliff are the new couple who have been assigned to serve in the Dar Es Salaam office which is a satellite office from our Nairobi office.

Our last Sunday in our cute little flat. 

Elder Torrie and Elder Limu

Elder Limu and Elder Mlambo

Elder Mlambo and Elder Ncube

Elder Warenga and Elder Rasmussen

Elder Mukengela and Elder Warenga

Elder Lotulelei

Elder Akpu

Elder Wambua and Elder Torrie

Elder Wambua

Elder Muthiani

Sister Shanya and Elder Sutherland

Elder Akpu and Elder & Sister Shurtliff

Sister Sutherland and Elder Ellis doing dishes.  Good job, Elder Ellis!

Sister Msane and Elder Agesa

Sister Msane and Elder Agesa

Sister Msane happy to have a new big fridge and freezer (side by side combination).  Just right for feeding the crowds that she regularly feeds.  Elder Torrie suggested she buy it and she did.  She says Elder Torrie has lots of good ideas.

Elder Agesa and Elder Lotulelei

Elder Agesa and Elder Lotulelei

Elder Agesa, Sister Msane and Elder Lotulelei

Elder Agesa and Elder Lotulelei

ENERGY ENERGY ENERGY!!! from part of the ENERGY team, thanks to Mr. Energy -- Elder Agesa!  L-R: Elder Ellis, Elder Agesa, Elder Lotulelei

Elder Wambua and Elder Mwashi writing in each others' journals.

Elder Muthiani and Elder Wambua.  "Ha . . . I saw you taking that picture!"

Elder Agesa, Elder Muthiani, Elder Akpu, Elder Lotulelei

Elder Torrie training Elder Shurtliff in a few duties.

"If you do it like that . . . then this will happen.  Better to do it like this."

Singing time at the mission home

Missionaries love to sing hymns or Primary songs and Elder Torrie loves to accompany.  Nice that Elder Torrie's replacement, Elder Sutherland, also plays piano and has directed choirs his whole life. 

Elder & Sister Shurtliff will leave the next day to start their responsibilities in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

And Elder and Sister Sutherland have already started their duties in the Nairobi office.

Elder Agesa and Elder Akpu

Sister Shanya came on her mission two days after we did so we all grew up together. 

Now it's time for all the returning missionaries to bear their testimonies.  Elder Akpu, Elder Lotulelei, Elder Agesa are all going home tomorrow.

Elder Muthiani and Elder Wambua are also going home after having served for two years.

Sister Shanya served for 18 months as do all young sister missionaries.

Here we are:  the November 2017 departing missionaries.  Hard to think this time has come already.  L-R: Sister Torrie, Elder Torrie, Elder Agesa, Elder Muthiani, Elder Wambua, Elder Akpu, Sister Shanya, Elder Lotulelei.

Departing missionaries now joined by President and Sister Msane.

Mission T-shirts and plaques

No looking back.  Go forward.  On and on to the victory.

This was a bittersweet evening for Elder Torrie and me

Elder Agesa and President Msane

Elder Akpu and President Msane

Ha ha.  So funny.  Elder Akpu FINALLY received his Residency Card (his Alien Card AKA Foreigner Certificate) the day before he left Kenya.  We tried really hard to get it for him but things kept getting mixed up at Immigration.  It makes a nice souvenir anyway.

Elder and Sister Shurtliff with Andrew Kiserema at Langata Chapel.  Can't remember the story but seems that Andrew served with one of the Shurtliff's sons on their missions.  I know the Shurtliffs will remember the story.

Getting Ready to Go

The last month of our mission was bittersweet.  We had served with all our hearts and we found it very hard to say goodbye.

I loved our amazing cleaning girl, Cecilia.  She worked extra hard to make our office clean--inside and outside.  She made these two bags for me.  One out of plastic and one out of fiber.  She went upcountry to her mother's place so her mother could teach her how to do it.  Amazing.  Here she's demonstrating how I could carry the second bag on my head if my hair weren't so slippery!

Anna, my hairdresser from Out of Town Hair Salon became a good friend.  She's British, born and raised in Kenya.

Doing bulletin boards is not my thing but I did my best to keep it updated.  There were three boards and this is the first one.

Probably too many things on this board but the pictures are fun to look at.

I changed many of the pictures once every transfer.

I especially like this picture of the Savior with black children by Liz Lemon Swindle.  Click on the picture to read the scripture.

And in the bottom picture are the 7 Canadians serving in the KNM as of October 2017.  I love all missionaries but the Canadians have a special place in my heart.

We loved our branch president, President Baddoo of the Langata Branch.  He's just a bit older than our oldest son!  We rarely see him without a suit on.

The two youngest Baddoo children -- Elcan and Ezra. 

Sister Baddoo, Sister Torrie, Emma.  I love these lovely ladies.  (How is that for alliteration).

Singing together . . . President Baddoo, Elcan, Ezra, Edwin.

Whoops.  Should have used the flash.  Here we are with the Baddoo family.  We will miss you!!!

Evelyn was a missionary in the Kenya Nairobi Mission before I was a missionary.  Another lovely lady.

We will miss the Assistants, Elder Ellis and Elder Mwashi, who are Assistants to the President.  It has been great to work closely with them.  They are in the office one day most weeks and sometimes other days as needed.  We have now worked with several Assistants:  Elder Arudo, Elder Wafula, Elder Hales, Elder Ellis, and Elder Mwashi.

Sister Msane is hard at work!  She's a great asset to the mission.

I will miss working closely with Sister Msane.  We have become great friends.

Dan and his mother popped over to tell me they are moving.  So many changes.

Dan and Faye were the first to come and welcome us to the compound when we moved in a year and a half ago.  They are like our own grandchildren.

Joseph Onyango was our branch president before President Baddoo.  He's a very good man.  His wife Lilyan, sewed this African dress for me as a surprise.  She did a good job at guessing my size.

The dress Lilyan made fit my waist really well.  It's a little wide in the top but I can take it in a bit so it will fit.  It's extremely well made and the fabric is great.  Why don't we have good fabric in the West snymotr?

Eric Mathenge is an amazing artist.  See his work at junglewaysoriginals.com.  He painted this picture from a photo that we liked.  I took pictures of the paintings we had purchased so I would have a visual record.

This is another of Eric Mathenge's paintings.  Elephants at Tsavo National Park.

Love these bird pictures.  Center is of a red-headed weaver bird and at right are lilac-breasted rollers that are absolutely gorgeous in flight.

Eric's black and white paintings are gorgeous too.  We bought too many paintings.  Eric will take the pictures off the frames and roll them for us to carry home.

I love the colorful pottery out for sale along Ngong Road.  Wouldn't the Old Woman in the Shoe love those orange and white shoes???

And out my back window was a Hadada ibis scratching in the grass.

I saw a leopard once in Hell's Gate Park and one in Masai Mara.  They are beautiful animals and Eric Mathenge has well-captured the look of this wild, yet very tame-looking leopard.  Eric painted this smaller version for us.

Narnia fans will see this lion immediately as Aslan, the Christ-figure in the Chronicles of Narnia.  I love that tender look!

Ah . . . my lovely zebras.  Another of Eric Mathenge's paintings, this time acrylic on canvas.

Love those stripes!!

Here's LeRon on our last day at Langata Branch.

Good friends, or rather, good children -- Andrew and Stella.

We love Andrew like a son.  He gave us this lovely picture of Jesus with an African child by Liz Lemon Swindle.  We will treasure it just as we treasure our friendship with Andrew.

And just as we treasure our friendship with Stella.  Thank you, Stella, for all you've done for us and best wishes with that PhD work.

Passing of our good friend, Francis Nyenze, of Nairobi

We awoke this morning to the very sad news that our good friend, Francis Nyenze, has passed away.  He was the landlord of the compound in which we lived in Nairobi (he also lived there with his family) and he was one of the most honorable politicians we have known.  I used to tell him that if I could vote in Kenya, I would vote for him regardless of which party he belonged to.  He was a minority leader and previously had served in the cabinet.  He was one very, very good man.  A good Christian, a wonderful husband and father, and a friend to all.

Here's the newspaper announcement:  https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001262314/kitui-west-mp-and-former-minority-leader-francis-nyenze-dead

Interview with Francis' wife Edith and others:  https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/ktnnews/video/2000145830/kenyan-leaders-pay-tribute-to-francis-nyenze-after-he-died-in-nairobi-hospital

"Nyenze was a grassroots leader who effortlessly interacted with all people. It is a great loss for us and I can tell you his shoes are too big for anybody else to fit in," noted Rodgers Kaleve, a businessman based at Kabati market. Kitui senator Enock Wambua described the late Nyenze as an accommodative leader. In a message of condolence delivered by Wiper party Executive Director Jared Sisso, Kalonzo, who is in Germany, described Nyenze as a non-confrontational gentleman who was a great asset in Wiper party who helped build bridges among political protagonists. 

From another news article:  "Nyenze was a grassroots leader who effortlessly interacted with all people. It is a great loss for us and I can tell you his shoes are too big for anybody else to fit in," noted Rodgers Kaleve, a businessman based at Kabati market.  In a message of condolence delivered by Wiper party Executive Director Jared Sisso, Kalonzo, who is in Germany, he described Nyenze as a non-confrontational gentleman who was a great asset in Wiper party who helped build bridges among political protagonists. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001262332/wiper-leader-defended-the-late-nyenze-even-when-the-mp-supported-jubilee-s-uhuru-kenyatta

It was a privilege to live close to the Nyenze family for the past 19 months and to count them as friends.  This picture was taken in their home on one of our visits with them.  Our daughter, Heather, had come from Chicago for a visit in December 2016 so we dropped by so she could meet them.  We had a little Christmas sing-along with Francis playing his guitar and LeRon on the piano.  Their daughter Grace also played some tunes on the piano.  It was a lovely evening.  L-R: daughter Ruth, Francis and his lovely wife Edith, Colleen & LeRon Torrie, Heather Torrie, daughter Grace.  We will always treasure the good times we had with the Nyzenze family.

Still to Come . . .

I still have a lot of pictures that need to be posted of our last two weeks in Kenya.  They are still coming.  Just be patient.  I am recuperating after giving my all to the Kenya Nairobi Mission for 19 months.  I hope to get it done before Christmas.

Still thinking of all the wonderful people in Kenya and of our amazing KNM missionaries.  I miss you all, including my sister from another mother -- Sister Msane.  I really miss my regular association with her and her husband, our KNM president, President Msane.  You are in our prayers every day.

We came home to snow and cold, but, like southern Alberta often is in the winter, it's warmed up today and the snow is gone.  Trees are bare and the grass is brown.  Very different from Nairobi!  It's been great to be in our own home and to be near some of our kids and our granddaughter (the other grandchildren live far away in North Dakota and in Chicago).

We spoke in church the week we got home and Elder Card's parents and three sisters came from Cardston to hear us speak.  Elder Montgomery's grandparents -- the Woods -- came down from Calgary.  Good to meet these families.  Some day we will meet more of the families.  We love all of the missionaries we've served with -- all 136 of them!