7/20
*siiip* "I'm trying a new brand of Hot Chocolate tonight."
"Which brand?"
"Fudge-something."
"Okay, how is it?"
"Weird. Not bad, but weird. I'll probably need to finish the mug before I decide."
Anyway, today was an interesting day. We started by going to Kayole 2 (late of course, we went to the wrong chapel, Kayole 1, not 2). The second we arrived there, I was greeted by a snacking Elder Saunders who was on his 6th Chapate of the morning. He recommended me to this guy just across the street who was making these really fire Chapate. I got two, and had to hold myself back from getting more.
Why were we at Kayole 2? Open House. I spent most of my time writing a phone number on pamphlets and barely contacted anyone. At one point I grabbed a member and taught him how to contact. The guy was nervous and shy, and I just cheerfully bulldozed right over that. The guy was a natural once I'd given him a push. He contacted more people than I did, and more than a lot of missionaries. Nice!
We headed back not long after that so we could be on time to our first appointment of the day: Correlation. We met with B.Eugene and hammered out some details to help the work move forward. I also ended up taking on extra responsibilities. It's fun figuring out what you have to do to move the work forward.
Our first appointment after that was these two kids. We discovered that they didn't speak English. Well, kidogosana. I discovered that I know more Swahili than I realized as I was listening to E.Kanda talk to them, and I pretty much understood everything he told them. He even turned to me to summarize the conversation, but I already knew everything, just missed a word every now and then. Just to be clear: missionary Swahili is very different from conversational Swahili. I still can't understand that.
The spirit even blessed me with enough Swahili in the moment to ask a clarifying question in Swahili. It's not something I can repeat right now, even as I try to remember what the hecky I said. I got the answer though: they are attending Sunday school. We'll be taking a translator next time.
The guidance of the Lord is apparent in our next move right after this appointment ended a lot earlier than expected. My comp turned to me and was like: "what do we do now?" At first I thew out contacting, but then I had a person pop into my head, so I suggested that we visit with her to see when she can help us with missionary work. We headed there, she wasn't home, we chatted with her Dad for a minute, then she showed up. We'll have someone to work with on Wednesday this week now.
We had to head back the way we came after that, past the place of our last appointment. We had to go looking for the flat of the person for our next appointment, but we got a little lost. Fortunately, it was only by one street. We were only one street over from the one we wanted to be on. We found the one we were looking for, and we met with the Woman in question. Nice lady, her name is Evans (eee-vans), but I'm gonna nickname her Sister E. She seems rather promising, she was a referral from her mother in law: the relief society president. It was a good lesson, but it looks like things might be hard.
7/21
Oh boy, looks like I'm going into overtime. I'll explain in a sec.
Anyway, we started the day off with sacrament, then we had Sunday school. Nothing too interesting. I had a bit of free time so I finally finished the book of Judges and the book of Ruth, now I'm in Samuel. Fun!
"We" taught those two kids from yesterday with a member named Bradley "helping." He's a returned missionary who serveed in Uganda. He taught the entire lesson, we just sat there and looked pretty. Well, we did have a +1 for this lesson in the form of a 2 or 3 year old little girl. I spent the lesson letting the more complex Swahili go right over my head and trying to teach this little girl how to wink. She never quite managed to do it. It did keep her quiet though, so it was worth it.
After that, we headed back to do the weekly planning that we'd been putting off. Got through it nice and easy, then we met with Bradley again and went to visit a member who'd invited us over.
I learned something today: I like Bradley, he told me I should blast people in a loving manner if they lie a lot. Okay, here's some context. We were talking about how a lot of Kenyans here like to say that they'll "come" to an appointment, or that they'll "come" to church. Bradley has nicknamed those people "entertainers." He said that you just call them on it in "a loving manner." I translated that to mean: "Blast 'em with the spirit, don't just blast to blast." He agreed with my translation. I like the guy, but he sparked the desire in me to watch Marvel movies. He told me how much he liked Endgame and I'm like: "Dang son, that's wicked. So would I be if I watched it right now." (Didn't say that, but it summarizes what I was thinking) He was absolutely shocked when I told him that I haven't seen any Marvel movie since Spider-Man Homecoming. Fun guy, good teacher too. He's the kind of RM I want to be. We're working with him on Friday this week.
We visited S.Linda after the member visit (Bradley tagged along). We didn't have much time to teach her because we kept running into people on the street that we knew. It really slowed us down.
This is what I was talking about when I mentioned overtime. S.Linda has been low-key avoiding church, and I think I found the problem: she's nervous and/or scared. I suggested to her that we should bring a few Relief Society Sisters later this week to meet her so that she'd have some friends at church, and so that she could feel more comfortable. She agreed to it.
I texted the Relief Society President this evening to see if she could track down two sisters who would be free at an appointed time on Thursday. If I don't hear back from her by tomorrow evening I'm gonna give her a call. If she hasn't done anything then I'm gonna call every Sister in the phone to find out if anyone is free. This may be the last week of the transfer, but I'm done playing. People don't do anything unless you bug them half to death. So that's what I'll do. If I have to bug them to the resurrection and back I'll do it. Well, maybe that's too aggressive, but you get my point!
That's what I meant by overtime by the way.
Monday, July 22, 2019
7/19/2019 Met with an investigator who I'd sworn we dropped, but he popped back up like a Whack-a-Mole
7/15
We actually did a bit of missionary work today: we visited a member. It was a nice visit, I got to spend some time chatting with E.Cole, and I lost him to a food coma. The Chapate that we were given were absolutely fantastic. I kinda want to learn how to cook them that way. The sister was really sweet, and it surprised me that she was willing to feed 6 missionaries: E.Kanda and I, E.Mboyo and E.Cole, and E.Sunu and E.Madsen. It was extremely nice of her. I did my best to share a spiritual thought, but it wasn't that good, mostly just thanking her for the good she has done.
The rest of the day was meh, I cybered (which isn't meh, it's just not interesting to write about), and called home (also not meh for me).
7/16
If Wednesday is Hump Day, Tuesday is "Bounce Day!" (TM) It's nothing surprising, it's what usually happens, but this Bounce Day wasn't as bad as some of the previous ones.
First up: a rule change by Mission President. We have Comp Study first thing in the morning before leaving the flat. Apparently a lot of missionaries had been putting Comp Study as a "Back-up Plan" and it just wasn't getting done as much as it was supposed to be. My comp and I are pretty good about having it, there's just the rare occasion where something pops up and we aren't able to have it, but those occasions are VERY rare. Not to happen anymore with the new rule change.
Second up: bounce. Many, but only two.
Third: Member visit. We visited a member we thought was a Recent Convert, but she was Baptized 2 years ago, so she isn't anymore.
Fourth: a few new investigators, one even seems to have something similar to "a broken heart and a contrite spirit" but we'll see.
Fifth: We taught S.Linda again today. We taught her the last few things she needed to be taught before she can be Baptized. There are more lessons, but they can be taught before or after Baptism. There is an issue that needs to be resolved before she can be Baptized, but once it is we'll dunk her quick. (Lol, never call Baptism dunking)
We taught the Word of Wisdom today, and the only issue is something she has already quit: Tea. She stopped drinking it when her husband suddenly and abruptly refused to drink it (he hadn't exactly told her that he was being taught by missionaries). She stopped because having to boil water twice was a huge pain for her: once for the tea he wouldn't drink, once for his Hot Chocolate. Well, that made things easy for us. She was even able to prove our point when she talked about the headaches she'd get if she didn't drink it. Thumbs up for Word of Wisdom, really easy lesson when there aren't any issues.
Finally finished SMSing the last of the Former Investigators today, that was really nice. Now to repeat the process with the Recent Converts and Other Investigators. Fortunately, I don't have to deal with 100+ people this time around.
7/18
Didn't update yesterday. It was late, I don't remember why it was so late, but it's what happened (checks journal update from yesterday). Yup! Not even this thing helps, but it does remind me what we even DID yesterday. We had DDM, got bounced some, and met with a Recent Convert named Niece, we taught her about temples, and gave her mother a blessing. E.Kanda anointed and I blessed. It was nice. A guy we dropped tried to meet with us after that (with unclear intentions, but what he said stinks to me) he showed up 40 minutes late so we just left. We actually ran into him on the way out.
"Why didn't you just teach him?"
"The impending home safe. Our area is pretty safe, but that's only so long as you obey home safe - 7pm."
You don't want to be out around dark in my area. The dogs alone would tear you apart. They seem all friendly and pathetic during the day, but once night comes they become rabid.
Anyway, today was a bunch of wasted time. We had Zone Leader flat checks so E.Kanda and I rushed out first thing in the morning to buy the stuff we were missing. 45min walk to Naivas, then a 45min walk back. We were back at the flat by 11, mandazi in hands. We then waited, and waited, and waited. The flat check was supposed to be at 11:30. I finished a full nap before they showed up: 1hr and 30min late. It completely threw our plan for today, but I'm not mad about it. There's literally no point.
We met with B.Anthony to check in on how he was doing then had a late lunch, then I did E.Cole a favor and cut his hair. He was thanking me, and I was apologizing. I obliterated his sideburns and did a horrible job edging his ears, but aside from that it wasn't too horrible. He kept telling me to go shorter too, and I always went: "Are you sure?" I even told him about a Seinfeld episode (that I haven't seen) where Jerry decides to "even" out his chest hair. He laughed and told me to keep going. It was fun. Pics included if I got them uploaded. He kept having me take more so he could show enough "pain."
That, plus the Zone Leaders being late led to not enough time for Weekly Planning. We'll do it later. It'll be shorter than last week's since I won't be performing a spring cleaning.
Yeah, I don't learn either. I bought Cadbury brand Hot Chocolate again. I do justify myself in this one though! There were two different ones for sale. The one I bought last time was Cocoa Powder. This one is a "2 in 1" that includes sugar. It's meant specifically for Hot Chocolate. I still add sugar because that's how I was raised. You have no idea how much sugar is in the Hot Chocolate we have back home. I look like a freak whenever I put sugar in my plastic mug. I burn through a Kg of sugar in a few weeks. I may have a problem.
Thought's on this hot chocolate: Ma, iizou. Kore wa mada dame desuyo, danga kore wo moto ii ni narimasu. Boku (Ore(lol)) no itsumo no Hot Chocolate wa saikyou desuyo. Sore wa muteki ni.
Dad, please double check my Japanese. I've forgotten so much that I'm pretty sure most of that (if not literally 100%) is incorrect. I was never that good at conjugation.
7/19
Well, today was A LOT of contacting, mostly door to door contacting too. I ended up falling back into old habits from my days doing door to door sales. There's a lot of little tricks I used during door to door sales that I started using. Nothing unethical or problematic, but stuff like body language and tone. What I said and how I carried myself. The philosophy: "As long as the door is open you can keep talking" came back in full swing too.
Here's an example of something we did today that I learned from my old days:
E.Kanda: "Do you mind if we talk for just a few minutes?"
Homeowner: "No, I'm really busy."
E.Benson: "Oh! Please don't worry about it, we don't want to waste your time since you're busy. We're just missionaries preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ..."
Just give them a shortened version of whatever lines you habitually use to contact and give them a pamphlet. You can probably still get their number. It's not that hard here, the title: "missionary" contains enough weight for people to listen at first. They'll just block or bounce you after that.
Anyway, we ended up contacting 30+ people today. I know that much based off how many pamphlets I took out this morning (29), how many I have left (1), and how many times I vaguely remember E.Kanda giving someone a pamphlet (4? More?).
We did get a few new Investigators out of it all, so I was worth it, but I really hate contacting till I get into it. If I get into contacting I don't mind it, I get into a good zone, but if I'm not in the mood I dearly hate it. I'll still do it because I need to, but that doesn't mean I like it.
We also met with an investigator who I'd sworn we dropped, but he popped back up like a Whack-a-Mole (or a Whack-a-Vole, ehh Mom?). I'm still not sure what exactly he's after, but it doesn't seem like our message.
Here's the exciting thing for the day: we had an Investigator named Job who actually called US. This never happens. He was also 2 hours early to the appointment, something else that also never happens. He had done his assigned reading, something that (almost) never happens. He continued meeting us after he received blessings from the Lord, something that never happens. I like this guy. He even seems to have something like a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I kinda want to beat myself for this, but: I'm feeling hopeful. It happens every time we run into an Investigator with potential. My hope is usually shot in a field each and every single time, but like a persistent itch it always comes back. I suppose that's a good thing since "hope" is a Christlike attribute, but my comp laughs as met a bit for it. Eh, whatever.
At the flat I had to stare at myself in the mirror for a minute telling myself: "You're not hungry, you're just bored." Well, more than a minute. I still ended up making popcorn, hot chocolate, and mango juice (from concentrate). 'Tis the evening of a missionary who suddenly discovered that completing a monumental task (cleaning the area book) leaves one feeling empty. I assume this is a bit like what revenge is like.
We actually did a bit of missionary work today: we visited a member. It was a nice visit, I got to spend some time chatting with E.Cole, and I lost him to a food coma. The Chapate that we were given were absolutely fantastic. I kinda want to learn how to cook them that way. The sister was really sweet, and it surprised me that she was willing to feed 6 missionaries: E.Kanda and I, E.Mboyo and E.Cole, and E.Sunu and E.Madsen. It was extremely nice of her. I did my best to share a spiritual thought, but it wasn't that good, mostly just thanking her for the good she has done.
The rest of the day was meh, I cybered (which isn't meh, it's just not interesting to write about), and called home (also not meh for me).
7/16
If Wednesday is Hump Day, Tuesday is "Bounce Day!" (TM) It's nothing surprising, it's what usually happens, but this Bounce Day wasn't as bad as some of the previous ones.
First up: a rule change by Mission President. We have Comp Study first thing in the morning before leaving the flat. Apparently a lot of missionaries had been putting Comp Study as a "Back-up Plan" and it just wasn't getting done as much as it was supposed to be. My comp and I are pretty good about having it, there's just the rare occasion where something pops up and we aren't able to have it, but those occasions are VERY rare. Not to happen anymore with the new rule change.
Second up: bounce. Many, but only two.
Third: Member visit. We visited a member we thought was a Recent Convert, but she was Baptized 2 years ago, so she isn't anymore.
Fourth: a few new investigators, one even seems to have something similar to "a broken heart and a contrite spirit" but we'll see.
Fifth: We taught S.Linda again today. We taught her the last few things she needed to be taught before she can be Baptized. There are more lessons, but they can be taught before or after Baptism. There is an issue that needs to be resolved before she can be Baptized, but once it is we'll dunk her quick. (Lol, never call Baptism dunking)
We taught the Word of Wisdom today, and the only issue is something she has already quit: Tea. She stopped drinking it when her husband suddenly and abruptly refused to drink it (he hadn't exactly told her that he was being taught by missionaries). She stopped because having to boil water twice was a huge pain for her: once for the tea he wouldn't drink, once for his Hot Chocolate. Well, that made things easy for us. She was even able to prove our point when she talked about the headaches she'd get if she didn't drink it. Thumbs up for Word of Wisdom, really easy lesson when there aren't any issues.
Finally finished SMSing the last of the Former Investigators today, that was really nice. Now to repeat the process with the Recent Converts and Other Investigators. Fortunately, I don't have to deal with 100+ people this time around.
7/18
Didn't update yesterday. It was late, I don't remember why it was so late, but it's what happened (checks journal update from yesterday). Yup! Not even this thing helps, but it does remind me what we even DID yesterday. We had DDM, got bounced some, and met with a Recent Convert named Niece, we taught her about temples, and gave her mother a blessing. E.Kanda anointed and I blessed. It was nice. A guy we dropped tried to meet with us after that (with unclear intentions, but what he said stinks to me) he showed up 40 minutes late so we just left. We actually ran into him on the way out.
"Why didn't you just teach him?"
"The impending home safe. Our area is pretty safe, but that's only so long as you obey home safe - 7pm."
You don't want to be out around dark in my area. The dogs alone would tear you apart. They seem all friendly and pathetic during the day, but once night comes they become rabid.
Anyway, today was a bunch of wasted time. We had Zone Leader flat checks so E.Kanda and I rushed out first thing in the morning to buy the stuff we were missing. 45min walk to Naivas, then a 45min walk back. We were back at the flat by 11, mandazi in hands. We then waited, and waited, and waited. The flat check was supposed to be at 11:30. I finished a full nap before they showed up: 1hr and 30min late. It completely threw our plan for today, but I'm not mad about it. There's literally no point.
We met with B.Anthony to check in on how he was doing then had a late lunch, then I did E.Cole a favor and cut his hair. He was thanking me, and I was apologizing. I obliterated his sideburns and did a horrible job edging his ears, but aside from that it wasn't too horrible. He kept telling me to go shorter too, and I always went: "Are you sure?" I even told him about a Seinfeld episode (that I haven't seen) where Jerry decides to "even" out his chest hair. He laughed and told me to keep going. It was fun. Pics included if I got them uploaded. He kept having me take more so he could show enough "pain."
That, plus the Zone Leaders being late led to not enough time for Weekly Planning. We'll do it later. It'll be shorter than last week's since I won't be performing a spring cleaning.
Yeah, I don't learn either. I bought Cadbury brand Hot Chocolate again. I do justify myself in this one though! There were two different ones for sale. The one I bought last time was Cocoa Powder. This one is a "2 in 1" that includes sugar. It's meant specifically for Hot Chocolate. I still add sugar because that's how I was raised. You have no idea how much sugar is in the Hot Chocolate we have back home. I look like a freak whenever I put sugar in my plastic mug. I burn through a Kg of sugar in a few weeks. I may have a problem.
Thought's on this hot chocolate: Ma, iizou. Kore wa mada dame desuyo, danga kore wo moto ii ni narimasu. Boku (Ore(lol)) no itsumo no Hot Chocolate wa saikyou desuyo. Sore wa muteki ni.
Dad, please double check my Japanese. I've forgotten so much that I'm pretty sure most of that (if not literally 100%) is incorrect. I was never that good at conjugation.
7/19
Well, today was A LOT of contacting, mostly door to door contacting too. I ended up falling back into old habits from my days doing door to door sales. There's a lot of little tricks I used during door to door sales that I started using. Nothing unethical or problematic, but stuff like body language and tone. What I said and how I carried myself. The philosophy: "As long as the door is open you can keep talking" came back in full swing too.
Here's an example of something we did today that I learned from my old days:
E.Kanda: "Do you mind if we talk for just a few minutes?"
Homeowner: "No, I'm really busy."
E.Benson: "Oh! Please don't worry about it, we don't want to waste your time since you're busy. We're just missionaries preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ..."
Just give them a shortened version of whatever lines you habitually use to contact and give them a pamphlet. You can probably still get their number. It's not that hard here, the title: "missionary" contains enough weight for people to listen at first. They'll just block or bounce you after that.
Anyway, we ended up contacting 30+ people today. I know that much based off how many pamphlets I took out this morning (29), how many I have left (1), and how many times I vaguely remember E.Kanda giving someone a pamphlet (4? More?).
We did get a few new Investigators out of it all, so I was worth it, but I really hate contacting till I get into it. If I get into contacting I don't mind it, I get into a good zone, but if I'm not in the mood I dearly hate it. I'll still do it because I need to, but that doesn't mean I like it.
We also met with an investigator who I'd sworn we dropped, but he popped back up like a Whack-a-Mole (or a Whack-a-Vole, ehh Mom?). I'm still not sure what exactly he's after, but it doesn't seem like our message.
Here's the exciting thing for the day: we had an Investigator named Job who actually called US. This never happens. He was also 2 hours early to the appointment, something else that also never happens. He had done his assigned reading, something that (almost) never happens. He continued meeting us after he received blessings from the Lord, something that never happens. I like this guy. He even seems to have something like a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I kinda want to beat myself for this, but: I'm feeling hopeful. It happens every time we run into an Investigator with potential. My hope is usually shot in a field each and every single time, but like a persistent itch it always comes back. I suppose that's a good thing since "hope" is a Christlike attribute, but my comp laughs as met a bit for it. Eh, whatever.
At the flat I had to stare at myself in the mirror for a minute telling myself: "You're not hungry, you're just bored." Well, more than a minute. I still ended up making popcorn, hot chocolate, and mango juice (from concentrate). 'Tis the evening of a missionary who suddenly discovered that completing a monumental task (cleaning the area book) leaves one feeling empty. I assume this is a bit like what revenge is like.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
7/15/2019 Fortunately, we did a good job teaching and she told us that she was excited to keep this one.
7/8
Nothing interesting, except one thing. We paid a visit to the empty and untouched Distribution Center, then we went and emailed home. It was a long day, there was a lot of walking.
That wasn't the interesting thing. The interesting thing was the tiny kitten that we found on the stairs leading up to our flat. It was tiny and adorable, but it was just standing on the stairs crying. I pet it a little on the way up. Just a single finger on the head for a second, and it tried to follow me up the stairs crying. I honestly don't know how it was getting up them, and I saw the little thing climbing them. It was probably 3-4 weeks old at most, quite possibly less. We grabbed some stuff from the flat then came back out, and it was still crying. I scooped the thing up and we went around trying to find who it belonged to. It will remain a mystery, the last group of women we asked were too busy laughing at my shoulder kitty to care. I think it's a "stray" since the compound where we live keeps a few cats around to take care of rats. Regardless, when I set it down and walked away this tiny little thing tried to follow me since I represented "safety" and "compassion" for it. Some kids scared it and it stopped. Broke my heart. I would have tried to keep it, or find it a home if this were the U.S., but nobody seems to care about the animals here. My comp doesn't care in the slightest, cats are food where he comes from - dogs too.
7/9
Today was a mess of being bounced: 3 times. Our morning was shot. We did a lot of contacting then we met with an RC and gave her a Triple Combination. We then read some stuff with her and had a pretty good lesson.
After that, we met with S.Linda, and we taught Tithing. I was feeling a bit nervous teaching this since I know the general Kenyan attitude toward money: Money > God. Fortunately, we did a good job teaching and she told us that she was excited to keep this one. I'll admit: I'm a bit thrown. It was nice, I hope it happens again.
7/10
DDM today, I was conducting. Of course, I didn't miss opportunities for a running commentary and dropped jokes. Not too many, but some.
We picked up my new suit on the way back from the meeting (since it was on the way) and it looks nice. Black Trousers (Pants) and Blazer (Jacket), with a purple Waistcoat (Vest). It looks nice. I had the trousers re-tailored since they were a bit too tight (I've gained weight here) they fit fine now. I was planning on ordering another suit, but the owner wasn't around, just his assistants. I'll do that later. Probably next week, but if I get transferred it'll be annoying to get a hold of. Regardless, I'm not going to miss an opportunity.
After that, we tried to meet with a guy whose name is Julius, but the guy bounced us. We went to see an LA after that, and we had a nice lesson with him. His daughter is one of the ones who got Baptized two weeks ago with the big group of 8-year-old primary children. It was a good lesson, and that ended our day. Mosiah 2:41
7/11
Well, not much today. We went to a Zone Meeting this morning, and it took a huge chunk of the day. We weren't sure when we'd get back, so the only thing we had planned aside from Comp Study was Weekly Planning. I was rather determined this week, so I started cleaning out the area book during weekly planning.
That's one thing that's important to me: leaving an EXCELLENT area book for the next missionaries. So I bought a little notebook today and I'm taking note of people's phone numbers (Potential Investigators and Former Investigators), and I'm just trying to get everything up to date. It's a good thing I decided to do this, my companion didn't even recognize some of the Recent Converts I asked him about, that's not a good sign. In a way, I suppose it can't be helped. There will always be people who slip through the cracks when new missionaries come in, but that's why an up-to-date area book is so important.
I'm also taking this as an opportunity to try and increase our teaching pool. I pulled out every "former" investigator and sorted them into piles. We'll buy infinite SMS for 30 bob tomorrow, then I'll get to work. I have a message pre-written and everything. I'll call the ones that actually seems like they could make some serious progress, but for the ones that were only taught one lesson (the vast majority of the 100+ records), I'll just send my pre-written SMS. It'll probably take all evening tomorrow. Took all evening today just to sort them all. Paperwork for the win! I'd make a great Office Elder.
7/12
*thump* *thump* *thump* "Stop hitting your head against the wall. What's will all the pieces of paper?"
"The half-completed process of following up on all the "former" investigators in the area book. 100 of the 200 or so of them, regardless, I got 1/2 of them done this evening, took bl**dy forever."
"Language, you're in a place where that word is offensive. Any success?"
"One guy."
"One guy what?"
"I've had one guy respond to my pre-written messages positively."
"Out of 100%?"
"Yeah."
"1% is a failing grade that I've never seen."
"Right? Fortunately, missionary work isn't like that, that 1% could be a major success if this guy is serious. We're seeing him on Tuesday."
"That is the upside to this work. Good going."
"Here's hoping the other 100 will give us another one."
Anyway, we started the day off by being bounced. The lady was home, but she pretended we weren't knocking. We ended up contacting and setting up a lunch appointment for tomorrow. Fun!
Taught a lesson, got a new investigator, always nice, we'll see how this new guy does.
Lunch, I still love Chapate.
Comp Study, then we visited an RC named Anthony. We're trying to get him interested in missionary work, so we talked to him about that, and invited us to work with us next week. He also gave us a few referrals when I ventured to ask. The guy recommended pretty much everyone in his apartment complex, I love him for it. I only counted one today since we only got one number, but I'll be able to get him to help us get the rest later.
Bounced again, then we visited another RC named Docila. We ended up helping with the Laundry, before rushing out to another appointment with some people who had called us outta nowhere. We won't be teaching them since they're in the other Elder's area.
7/13
*bam* *bam* *bam*
"Paperwork?"
*bam* "Paperwork."
"Why do you do this to yourself?"
"Because I'm stubborn about the paperwork I have to do as a missionary. The area book needs to be completely up-to-date."
"How's that working for you?"
"We bought a bundle for a week that lets us send 400 SMSs. We bought it on Thursday, and we have 200 hundred remaining."
"So you've contacted 200 former investigators?"
"Roughly 120 or so."
"Any success?"
"Some. We've had a few people respond, and we've given a few referrals as a result. I've also given 12 or so records to Lucky Summer 2."
"This is all never to be repeated, right?"
"Nope, I'll do this in my next area too. I did a mini version of it in my old area. Not quite a deep cleaning, like I'm doing this time around, but I went through and sorted out the area book."
We started the day with a new inestigator, it was very nice. From there, correlation, then we met with an extremely nice member (thought I was gonna die, we did lose E.Cole to a food coma). We had a meeting with an investigator in his kinyozi (barber shop), and one of his friends just sat around listening: +1 Investigators. We then paid a visit to an investigator who is using excuses to avoid coming to church. I thought we were gonna drop her, but E.Kanda wants to meet with her next week, so we'll see.
I bought flour on the way back and Irene (shop owner who E.Kanda fights with) asked me if I was going to make chapate. I responded that I was, then she demanded that I explain the steps. I only got halfway through an explanation that used more pantomime and sound effects than actual words before she stopped me. She was relieved that I actually knew how to make it.
I was a super busy bee after that: SMSing people, following up on Former Investigators, Laundry, and trying to set up appointments. My evening was shot. The fact that I took 15 minutes per shirt instead of my usual 10 doesn't help anything. It was worth it though! By using better soap and taking more time I was able to get out stains that I couldn't do anything about in Dar. My shirt's actually white again! Huzzah Magic Powers!
7/14
Church today, we were fasting again as a companionship. We had the four kids from last week confirmed and the other Elders had a Baptism. We taught a lesson, caught the last few minutes of a fireside and headed off to an appointment. The appointment went well, so when we finished up we headed to the next one. We were bounced, so we paid a quick visit to an Investigator in his kinyozi, but had to leave when a customer came. We ended up wandering a bit lost since contacting on Sunday doesn't work too well. After killing time and trying to contact a little we headed to our last appointment. We taught S.Linda Chastity as well as a few commandments. It went well, then we headed back to the flat. I spent my entire evening making chapate, and only made 7. They. Were. FOUL! I added too much salt and couldn't roll the dough out thin enough, so they were all doughy and bad. Yuck! Still took pics.
Nothing interesting, except one thing. We paid a visit to the empty and untouched Distribution Center, then we went and emailed home. It was a long day, there was a lot of walking.
That wasn't the interesting thing. The interesting thing was the tiny kitten that we found on the stairs leading up to our flat. It was tiny and adorable, but it was just standing on the stairs crying. I pet it a little on the way up. Just a single finger on the head for a second, and it tried to follow me up the stairs crying. I honestly don't know how it was getting up them, and I saw the little thing climbing them. It was probably 3-4 weeks old at most, quite possibly less. We grabbed some stuff from the flat then came back out, and it was still crying. I scooped the thing up and we went around trying to find who it belonged to. It will remain a mystery, the last group of women we asked were too busy laughing at my shoulder kitty to care. I think it's a "stray" since the compound where we live keeps a few cats around to take care of rats. Regardless, when I set it down and walked away this tiny little thing tried to follow me since I represented "safety" and "compassion" for it. Some kids scared it and it stopped. Broke my heart. I would have tried to keep it, or find it a home if this were the U.S., but nobody seems to care about the animals here. My comp doesn't care in the slightest, cats are food where he comes from - dogs too.
7/9
Today was a mess of being bounced: 3 times. Our morning was shot. We did a lot of contacting then we met with an RC and gave her a Triple Combination. We then read some stuff with her and had a pretty good lesson.
After that, we met with S.Linda, and we taught Tithing. I was feeling a bit nervous teaching this since I know the general Kenyan attitude toward money: Money > God. Fortunately, we did a good job teaching and she told us that she was excited to keep this one. I'll admit: I'm a bit thrown. It was nice, I hope it happens again.
7/10
DDM today, I was conducting. Of course, I didn't miss opportunities for a running commentary and dropped jokes. Not too many, but some.
We picked up my new suit on the way back from the meeting (since it was on the way) and it looks nice. Black Trousers (Pants) and Blazer (Jacket), with a purple Waistcoat (Vest). It looks nice. I had the trousers re-tailored since they were a bit too tight (I've gained weight here) they fit fine now. I was planning on ordering another suit, but the owner wasn't around, just his assistants. I'll do that later. Probably next week, but if I get transferred it'll be annoying to get a hold of. Regardless, I'm not going to miss an opportunity.
After that, we tried to meet with a guy whose name is Julius, but the guy bounced us. We went to see an LA after that, and we had a nice lesson with him. His daughter is one of the ones who got Baptized two weeks ago with the big group of 8-year-old primary children. It was a good lesson, and that ended our day. Mosiah 2:41
7/11
Well, not much today. We went to a Zone Meeting this morning, and it took a huge chunk of the day. We weren't sure when we'd get back, so the only thing we had planned aside from Comp Study was Weekly Planning. I was rather determined this week, so I started cleaning out the area book during weekly planning.
That's one thing that's important to me: leaving an EXCELLENT area book for the next missionaries. So I bought a little notebook today and I'm taking note of people's phone numbers (Potential Investigators and Former Investigators), and I'm just trying to get everything up to date. It's a good thing I decided to do this, my companion didn't even recognize some of the Recent Converts I asked him about, that's not a good sign. In a way, I suppose it can't be helped. There will always be people who slip through the cracks when new missionaries come in, but that's why an up-to-date area book is so important.
I'm also taking this as an opportunity to try and increase our teaching pool. I pulled out every "former" investigator and sorted them into piles. We'll buy infinite SMS for 30 bob tomorrow, then I'll get to work. I have a message pre-written and everything. I'll call the ones that actually seems like they could make some serious progress, but for the ones that were only taught one lesson (the vast majority of the 100+ records), I'll just send my pre-written SMS. It'll probably take all evening tomorrow. Took all evening today just to sort them all. Paperwork for the win! I'd make a great Office Elder.
7/12
*thump* *thump* *thump* "Stop hitting your head against the wall. What's will all the pieces of paper?"
"The half-completed process of following up on all the "former" investigators in the area book. 100 of the 200 or so of them, regardless, I got 1/2 of them done this evening, took bl**dy forever."
"Language, you're in a place where that word is offensive. Any success?"
"One guy."
"One guy what?"
"I've had one guy respond to my pre-written messages positively."
"Out of 100%?"
"Yeah."
"1% is a failing grade that I've never seen."
"Right? Fortunately, missionary work isn't like that, that 1% could be a major success if this guy is serious. We're seeing him on Tuesday."
"That is the upside to this work. Good going."
"Here's hoping the other 100 will give us another one."
Anyway, we started the day off by being bounced. The lady was home, but she pretended we weren't knocking. We ended up contacting and setting up a lunch appointment for tomorrow. Fun!
Taught a lesson, got a new investigator, always nice, we'll see how this new guy does.
Lunch, I still love Chapate.
Comp Study, then we visited an RC named Anthony. We're trying to get him interested in missionary work, so we talked to him about that, and invited us to work with us next week. He also gave us a few referrals when I ventured to ask. The guy recommended pretty much everyone in his apartment complex, I love him for it. I only counted one today since we only got one number, but I'll be able to get him to help us get the rest later.
Bounced again, then we visited another RC named Docila. We ended up helping with the Laundry, before rushing out to another appointment with some people who had called us outta nowhere. We won't be teaching them since they're in the other Elder's area.
7/13
*bam* *bam* *bam*
"Paperwork?"
*bam* "Paperwork."
"Why do you do this to yourself?"
"Because I'm stubborn about the paperwork I have to do as a missionary. The area book needs to be completely up-to-date."
"How's that working for you?"
"We bought a bundle for a week that lets us send 400 SMSs. We bought it on Thursday, and we have 200 hundred remaining."
"So you've contacted 200 former investigators?"
"Roughly 120 or so."
"Any success?"
"Some. We've had a few people respond, and we've given a few referrals as a result. I've also given 12 or so records to Lucky Summer 2."
"This is all never to be repeated, right?"
"Nope, I'll do this in my next area too. I did a mini version of it in my old area. Not quite a deep cleaning, like I'm doing this time around, but I went through and sorted out the area book."
We started the day with a new inestigator, it was very nice. From there, correlation, then we met with an extremely nice member (thought I was gonna die, we did lose E.Cole to a food coma). We had a meeting with an investigator in his kinyozi (barber shop), and one of his friends just sat around listening: +1 Investigators. We then paid a visit to an investigator who is using excuses to avoid coming to church. I thought we were gonna drop her, but E.Kanda wants to meet with her next week, so we'll see.
 |
| L to R: Elders Cole, Benson, Saunders at the Buruburu chapel |
I bought flour on the way back and Irene (shop owner who E.Kanda fights with) asked me if I was going to make chapate. I responded that I was, then she demanded that I explain the steps. I only got halfway through an explanation that used more pantomime and sound effects than actual words before she stopped me. She was relieved that I actually knew how to make it.
I was a super busy bee after that: SMSing people, following up on Former Investigators, Laundry, and trying to set up appointments. My evening was shot. The fact that I took 15 minutes per shirt instead of my usual 10 doesn't help anything. It was worth it though! By using better soap and taking more time I was able to get out stains that I couldn't do anything about in Dar. My shirt's actually white again! Huzzah Magic Powers!
7/14
Church today, we were fasting again as a companionship. We had the four kids from last week confirmed and the other Elders had a Baptism. We taught a lesson, caught the last few minutes of a fireside and headed off to an appointment. The appointment went well, so when we finished up we headed to the next one. We were bounced, so we paid a quick visit to an Investigator in his kinyozi, but had to leave when a customer came. We ended up wandering a bit lost since contacting on Sunday doesn't work too well. After killing time and trying to contact a little we headed to our last appointment. We taught S.Linda Chastity as well as a few commandments. It went well, then we headed back to the flat. I spent my entire evening making chapate, and only made 7. They. Were. FOUL! I added too much salt and couldn't roll the dough out thin enough, so they were all doughy and bad. Yuck! Still took pics.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
7/8/2019 I dunno why, just chalk it up to the spirit.
7/1
It was P-Day, what do you expect happened?
7/2
...
We got bounced a few times, had a bible bash, and visited an RC today. The only thing worth mentioning is the RC visit.
Okay, I have every good things to say about the guy -B. Kelvin- we visited today. That guy is a powerhouse, he was baptized last year, and he's about to start the paperwork for his mission. We went there to teach him, and mostly just let him teach himself. We did talk to him a bit about the process for applying for mission, as well as the amount of time involved in the process. He's hoping to have his papers in by August. Anyway, he's 21 years old, a teacher, and he's living on his own. This is a guy who knows what he wants, has a powerful testimony, and has the faith to see it all through with God's help. E.Pratt and E. Qinsile did a good job getting this guy Baptized.
We read Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 with him, and discussed it a little. He was really happy, but I do feel bad because he's still recovering from Malaria. He told us he was fine, but I'm not so sure. Anyway, it was a good visit. I really like the guy, and it looks like we'll start working with him to help his mission prep. Oh, here's something interesting: in DRC, E.Kanda's bishop refused to recommend him for a mission till he'd worked with the missionaries for a little while. It's rather interesting to see how that goes.
For my Mother's sake I'll include that I ate an Orange today. I actually found a stall that sells orange ones. Took forever to peel. Should probably get one every week or I'll be sent home with scurvy. My only source of Vitamin C was recently cut off, so the orange will act as the replacement.
7/4
Oh boy, what happened during exchanges? Nothing. We (E.Saunders and I) were supposed to go contacting all day, but we spent the whole time just chatting about our old area. We both started our missions in Chang'ombe 2, and he's the one who opened the area, so we spent the whole time talking about people we both know, and about swimming. E.Saunders is a huge competitive swimmer, and he was extremely happy to speak to someone who understood all the lingo he used. If you all recall, I used to be on the swim team, so I spoke the same language.
Later that evening, he taught me how to make Chapate too, so that was really cool. This was all after DDM that morning.
Today, we had service. I spent the whole time chatting with E.Cole. He did theater, and I speak his lingo, so he has a fun time chatting with me. He played video games, and he speaks my lingo, so I had a fun time chatting with him. (Yes, our service activity was still completed)
When we stopped by the church we discovered that the water was running, so we had to start filling the font then, because you don't know when the water will be gone, so we had to put everything on hold to clean it. Unfortunately, because of the size of the font one person will always do more work than the other, so I spent the entire time feeling useless as I did everything I could. When we finished we headed back to the flat to change, and rushed out. We were still late visiting B.Anthony. We read the Book of Mormon with him some, and encouraged him to think about a mission.
From there, we were late for our next appointment too. The guy gave up on waiting for us and left, so we walked 30 steps away to chat with a guy who'd been contacted earlier.
This guy is one who talks about his devotion, but gives a lot of excuses. I wasn't in the mood to play today. I firmly had the spirit, and firmly crushed his red herring argument with what I vaguely remember of logical fallacies.
We were trying to talk to him about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and I explained that keeping it holy isn't advisable, it's a commandment. He tried to say something along the lines of "Well, what happens if you're like Mandela and you're in prison for 27 years?" I pretty much asked him how that applies to him, and he tried to push the red herring, so I joked about him needing to quit his job if it made him feel like he'd been in prison 27 years. That shut it down. He did chuckle though.
Anyway, we finished the whole thing with me telling him that actions speak louder than words, I challenged him to do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to make it to church, and prove to me that there was no way he could be there for two hours. We left after that.
The only other interesting thing from today was that I got to say a quick hello to E.Phokane on the phone today. I don't know if it was just the phone, but his voice has changed a lot. He did mention that my voice had changed too, so maybe it was just the phone. It was still fun hearing from him.
7/5
Oh boy. We got to meet President Mdletshe today. He's an interesting guy, funny too. He likes to joke. We only got a short time to meet him, but it was an all-day event for us missionaries since we had to travel to Buruburu Chapel for it. We didn't dare schedule any appointments since we weren't sure how much time it would take.
Anyway, as I said, President Mdletshe is an interesting guy. When he opened up for a Q&A it was dead quiet, so I broke the silence and asked about his Marathon Running. A few months ago, he'd written a little article in the Liahona where he talked about how he loved running, so I asked.
Ummmm...yeah. He doesn't like running or love it. It seems to be his second wife. He told us that he's run over 100 Marathons, and that he still runs 6k every morning just to stay in shape. He then tied it to diligence and discipline and gave us low-key fire. I had a "oooohhh, he's really not gonna wait to give fire? This guy's good." I was kinda expecting it, but it was still fast. I knew for certain we'd get fire during the second meeting, but I wasn't sure about the first. It was nice to see, and since I was the one who asked the initial question he directed most of his answer at me. It was kinda funny.
So the two other things we learned about him: he was rather determined in his courting of his wife (funny stories there), and he has a PHD in Education. So, aside from that, the only interesting thing is a guy we contacted today.
After we finished with President Mdletshe we headed back to our area and grabbed dinner at our usual restaurant (for lunch, never eaten dinner there) as we were sitting there as I just finished up my meal a guy leans over to us and says: "You guys are missionaries, right?"
We talked with him, and taught him a little. He tried to see if we could hook him up with a bible, but I'm not sure if that's our wheelhouse. We did offer to bring him a Book of Mormon, and taught him a little about it. We also helped him understand a few points of doctrine, and I can say that this guy seems to have given a place in his heart for the Holy Ghost (unlike a certain Bible Bashed idiot from a few days ago) because he understood everything we taught, and we were able to successfully clear up his confusion regarding the Trinity. He asked to meet with us again, so hopefully he'll turn into a good investigator, but you don't know with this mission.
7/6
So we started taking a challenge given to us by our District Leader during the last DDM: we've started doing kneeling prayers to end a lesson. I don't know why, but I've never done them, it just never happened with either of my previous companions. So far, nobody has had an issue with it. At the end of the lesson I just get down on my knees and stare at the person we're teaching while my companion invites them. Works every time.
Anyway, I gave a lot of fire today, just rained it down from the heavens. I've discovered that I love giving fire, just saying what I'm thinking, and calling them out on what they're doing but, I live content in the knowledge that I'm still holding back.
I gave fire a few times today for procrastination, and made the people I was talking to rather uncomfortable. We invite people for church, then they say "maybe next week" so I just let them have it. "Next week is never gonna come. You'll be saying next week until Judgement...We don't know how long we have in this life, if he wants to, the Lord can claim you like that *snap* and you're gone." etc. I also live content in the amusement of my hypocracy. I know I procrastinate, I've just gotten better at squelching that urge for the sake of my mission.
Anyway, I gave fire for that twice today. It was fun. I'm bad cop, my comp is good cop. The trick to it all, is that I have to avoid giving fire for people lying to us. Don't tell us you're interested when you don't care, don't tell us you're gonna come to church when you know you won't, don't tell us you'll be busy when all you'll be doing is sitting at home watching Tv, blah, blah, blah. If you're wondering, I think I'm getting pretty good at giving fire. I'm able to keep the Holy Ghost around the whole time, and I never raise my voice. I just tell them the truth in a way that will cut the wicked. The goal is to wake them up, and show them the seriousness of the situation. 1 Nephi 16:1-4.
A lot of the people here take the Gospel too lightly, they say that they know that everything they have is from God, but then they blow off church at the first opportunity. Because of that, the best way I've found to give them a wake up call is to give fire. If I find a better method, I'll use that, if not... [Elder Benson uses the spell "Meteor" it's super effective!]
As for our appointments today, we started by getting bounced, and went to our back up without any hesitation. We had to wait for a while, but he did show, and we taught a good lesson. He's showing some positive signs as an investigator: he's asking questions (a very good sign) to learn, not to pick a fight.
We did some contacting, had lunch, then went to a productive correlation meeting (I love how productive they are here, something actually happens), got invited to a Ward Council meeting tomorrow, and we taught a few more lessons.
We were actually prepared to drop one of our investigators today since she hadn't been keeping commitments, but she'd done her assigned reading, now if she only comes to church tomorrow, and not "maybe next week" we'll be back in the green with her.
We paid a visit to a Recent Convert named Tracy after that, she'd been given a General Conference copy of the Liahona, so I went through and marked a few different talks that I liked, and that I thought would help her. Next time we swing by we'll bring a Flash Drive with a few talks downloaded and let her pick one to watch.
"The Attitude Toward the Church"
Well...there are a few different ones. The one I've gotten the most is "aren't you Jehovah's Witnesses?" Which is very annoying. I shoot that one down quick, and people here in Kenya hate them as a general rule.
The other attitude (aside from "never heard of them") is that we're Devil worshippers. S.Tracy, our RC, got fire from an extended family member for joining a devil worshipping church. That's kinda how it goes here.
7/7
*siiiip* "Bleh! This stuff is no good."
I made the mistake of trying Cadbury's hot chocolate mix. It was a mistake in-deed. Fortunately, I only bought the tiny bag of the stuff. The one that costs 15/=. Back to Raha I go. The stuff is nice.
Anyway, for today we had church, then four kids were Baptized, then we had a Ward Council Meeting. I -of course- ended up representing the missionaries. I didn't do it on purpose, but I think a lot of people will remember what I talked about the most because I used jokes to make my point. People remember jokes better than a speech. We just talked about the need for greater communication, and the need for missionaries to build trust with members. Apparently, I spoke so authoratively that the Bishop asked me if I was the District Leader. My response: "Nope! I'm the Junior Newbie." I got quite a round of chuckles from that one as the Bishop turned around to confirm with my companion. It was a funny moment.
*siiip* "Bleh! Still a mistake. It's really the aftertaste that's the worst."
Anyway, after that we went out to proselyte. We taught a lesson, and essentailly offered to be "Missionary Run Alcoholics Anonymous" as a woman shared her life story with us. I got to share a powerful testimony (because the Spirit let me for some reason... ;P) and I could see it hitting this woman hard. Her friend was feeling the spirit too. Keep in mind: these are both women who believe that they're "saved," but I testified of the Savior's Atonement. I'm still feeling the spirit as I think back on the moment. I borrowed some words from Brad Wilcox who gave a talk titled: "His Grace is Sufficient." It's a rather excellent one, I've heard it about 5 times.
"We aren't earning Heaven, we're learning Heaven."
For myself, it will be weird having the first lesson we teach be the Word of Wisdom, but you do what you need to do.
After that, we were bounced a few times. We ended up waiting on a street corner for 40 minutes before giving up. I had to deal with a crowd of annoying kids asking me if I knew Obama. I just ignored them except for the time that I told them: "Toka Appa." It's a bit rude, but it's a way of saying "get outta here."
I did give one of them a Pamphlet for some reason. I dunno why, just chalk it up to the spirit. Planting seeds wherever he tells me to.
We were bounced again after that, so we rested at the flat for a little while (Fast Sunday, we're both dying by this point, me more than my comp) then we headed to our last appointment. We ate dinner, they all chatted about "Football" (Soccer *eye roll*), I got accused of liking American Football, to which I replied that I didn't care about it. I don't care about any sports, but the sport I take any effort (no matter how small) to care about is soccer. I blame Alekken, he'd probably accept that blame with great joy. I dunno at this point, but maybe.
We taught a lesson, and I read from "The Family" it was a nice evening, even if they did try to kill me with food right after breaking a fast. We had to run (literally at one point) back to the flat, and made home safe by about 5 minutes. My comp does NOT want to call the Mission President, so he avoids being home late at all costs. I can't say I blame him.
*siiip* Bleh! I'm officially done with this stuff! The rest of this is going down the sink!"
It was P-Day, what do you expect happened?
7/2
...
We got bounced a few times, had a bible bash, and visited an RC today. The only thing worth mentioning is the RC visit.
Okay, I have every good things to say about the guy -B. Kelvin- we visited today. That guy is a powerhouse, he was baptized last year, and he's about to start the paperwork for his mission. We went there to teach him, and mostly just let him teach himself. We did talk to him a bit about the process for applying for mission, as well as the amount of time involved in the process. He's hoping to have his papers in by August. Anyway, he's 21 years old, a teacher, and he's living on his own. This is a guy who knows what he wants, has a powerful testimony, and has the faith to see it all through with God's help. E.Pratt and E. Qinsile did a good job getting this guy Baptized.
We read Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 with him, and discussed it a little. He was really happy, but I do feel bad because he's still recovering from Malaria. He told us he was fine, but I'm not so sure. Anyway, it was a good visit. I really like the guy, and it looks like we'll start working with him to help his mission prep. Oh, here's something interesting: in DRC, E.Kanda's bishop refused to recommend him for a mission till he'd worked with the missionaries for a little while. It's rather interesting to see how that goes.
For my Mother's sake I'll include that I ate an Orange today. I actually found a stall that sells orange ones. Took forever to peel. Should probably get one every week or I'll be sent home with scurvy. My only source of Vitamin C was recently cut off, so the orange will act as the replacement.
7/4
Oh boy, what happened during exchanges? Nothing. We (E.Saunders and I) were supposed to go contacting all day, but we spent the whole time just chatting about our old area. We both started our missions in Chang'ombe 2, and he's the one who opened the area, so we spent the whole time talking about people we both know, and about swimming. E.Saunders is a huge competitive swimmer, and he was extremely happy to speak to someone who understood all the lingo he used. If you all recall, I used to be on the swim team, so I spoke the same language.
Later that evening, he taught me how to make Chapate too, so that was really cool. This was all after DDM that morning.
Today, we had service. I spent the whole time chatting with E.Cole. He did theater, and I speak his lingo, so he has a fun time chatting with me. He played video games, and he speaks my lingo, so I had a fun time chatting with him. (Yes, our service activity was still completed)
When we stopped by the church we discovered that the water was running, so we had to start filling the font then, because you don't know when the water will be gone, so we had to put everything on hold to clean it. Unfortunately, because of the size of the font one person will always do more work than the other, so I spent the entire time feeling useless as I did everything I could. When we finished we headed back to the flat to change, and rushed out. We were still late visiting B.Anthony. We read the Book of Mormon with him some, and encouraged him to think about a mission.
From there, we were late for our next appointment too. The guy gave up on waiting for us and left, so we walked 30 steps away to chat with a guy who'd been contacted earlier.
This guy is one who talks about his devotion, but gives a lot of excuses. I wasn't in the mood to play today. I firmly had the spirit, and firmly crushed his red herring argument with what I vaguely remember of logical fallacies.
We were trying to talk to him about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and I explained that keeping it holy isn't advisable, it's a commandment. He tried to say something along the lines of "Well, what happens if you're like Mandela and you're in prison for 27 years?" I pretty much asked him how that applies to him, and he tried to push the red herring, so I joked about him needing to quit his job if it made him feel like he'd been in prison 27 years. That shut it down. He did chuckle though.
Anyway, we finished the whole thing with me telling him that actions speak louder than words, I challenged him to do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to make it to church, and prove to me that there was no way he could be there for two hours. We left after that.
The only other interesting thing from today was that I got to say a quick hello to E.Phokane on the phone today. I don't know if it was just the phone, but his voice has changed a lot. He did mention that my voice had changed too, so maybe it was just the phone. It was still fun hearing from him.
7/5
Oh boy. We got to meet President Mdletshe today. He's an interesting guy, funny too. He likes to joke. We only got a short time to meet him, but it was an all-day event for us missionaries since we had to travel to Buruburu Chapel for it. We didn't dare schedule any appointments since we weren't sure how much time it would take.
Anyway, as I said, President Mdletshe is an interesting guy. When he opened up for a Q&A it was dead quiet, so I broke the silence and asked about his Marathon Running. A few months ago, he'd written a little article in the Liahona where he talked about how he loved running, so I asked.
Ummmm...yeah. He doesn't like running or love it. It seems to be his second wife. He told us that he's run over 100 Marathons, and that he still runs 6k every morning just to stay in shape. He then tied it to diligence and discipline and gave us low-key fire. I had a "oooohhh, he's really not gonna wait to give fire? This guy's good." I was kinda expecting it, but it was still fast. I knew for certain we'd get fire during the second meeting, but I wasn't sure about the first. It was nice to see, and since I was the one who asked the initial question he directed most of his answer at me. It was kinda funny.
So the two other things we learned about him: he was rather determined in his courting of his wife (funny stories there), and he has a PHD in Education. So, aside from that, the only interesting thing is a guy we contacted today.
After we finished with President Mdletshe we headed back to our area and grabbed dinner at our usual restaurant (for lunch, never eaten dinner there) as we were sitting there as I just finished up my meal a guy leans over to us and says: "You guys are missionaries, right?"
We talked with him, and taught him a little. He tried to see if we could hook him up with a bible, but I'm not sure if that's our wheelhouse. We did offer to bring him a Book of Mormon, and taught him a little about it. We also helped him understand a few points of doctrine, and I can say that this guy seems to have given a place in his heart for the Holy Ghost (unlike a certain Bible Bashed idiot from a few days ago) because he understood everything we taught, and we were able to successfully clear up his confusion regarding the Trinity. He asked to meet with us again, so hopefully he'll turn into a good investigator, but you don't know with this mission.
7/6
So we started taking a challenge given to us by our District Leader during the last DDM: we've started doing kneeling prayers to end a lesson. I don't know why, but I've never done them, it just never happened with either of my previous companions. So far, nobody has had an issue with it. At the end of the lesson I just get down on my knees and stare at the person we're teaching while my companion invites them. Works every time.
Anyway, I gave a lot of fire today, just rained it down from the heavens. I've discovered that I love giving fire, just saying what I'm thinking, and calling them out on what they're doing but, I live content in the knowledge that I'm still holding back.
I gave fire a few times today for procrastination, and made the people I was talking to rather uncomfortable. We invite people for church, then they say "maybe next week" so I just let them have it. "Next week is never gonna come. You'll be saying next week until Judgement...We don't know how long we have in this life, if he wants to, the Lord can claim you like that *snap* and you're gone." etc. I also live content in the amusement of my hypocracy. I know I procrastinate, I've just gotten better at squelching that urge for the sake of my mission.
Anyway, I gave fire for that twice today. It was fun. I'm bad cop, my comp is good cop. The trick to it all, is that I have to avoid giving fire for people lying to us. Don't tell us you're interested when you don't care, don't tell us you're gonna come to church when you know you won't, don't tell us you'll be busy when all you'll be doing is sitting at home watching Tv, blah, blah, blah. If you're wondering, I think I'm getting pretty good at giving fire. I'm able to keep the Holy Ghost around the whole time, and I never raise my voice. I just tell them the truth in a way that will cut the wicked. The goal is to wake them up, and show them the seriousness of the situation. 1 Nephi 16:1-4.
A lot of the people here take the Gospel too lightly, they say that they know that everything they have is from God, but then they blow off church at the first opportunity. Because of that, the best way I've found to give them a wake up call is to give fire. If I find a better method, I'll use that, if not... [Elder Benson uses the spell "Meteor" it's super effective!]
As for our appointments today, we started by getting bounced, and went to our back up without any hesitation. We had to wait for a while, but he did show, and we taught a good lesson. He's showing some positive signs as an investigator: he's asking questions (a very good sign) to learn, not to pick a fight.
We did some contacting, had lunch, then went to a productive correlation meeting (I love how productive they are here, something actually happens), got invited to a Ward Council meeting tomorrow, and we taught a few more lessons.
We were actually prepared to drop one of our investigators today since she hadn't been keeping commitments, but she'd done her assigned reading, now if she only comes to church tomorrow, and not "maybe next week" we'll be back in the green with her.
We paid a visit to a Recent Convert named Tracy after that, she'd been given a General Conference copy of the Liahona, so I went through and marked a few different talks that I liked, and that I thought would help her. Next time we swing by we'll bring a Flash Drive with a few talks downloaded and let her pick one to watch.
"The Attitude Toward the Church"
Well...there are a few different ones. The one I've gotten the most is "aren't you Jehovah's Witnesses?" Which is very annoying. I shoot that one down quick, and people here in Kenya hate them as a general rule.
The other attitude (aside from "never heard of them") is that we're Devil worshippers. S.Tracy, our RC, got fire from an extended family member for joining a devil worshipping church. That's kinda how it goes here.
7/7
*siiiip* "Bleh! This stuff is no good."
I made the mistake of trying Cadbury's hot chocolate mix. It was a mistake in-deed. Fortunately, I only bought the tiny bag of the stuff. The one that costs 15/=. Back to Raha I go. The stuff is nice.
Anyway, for today we had church, then four kids were Baptized, then we had a Ward Council Meeting. I -of course- ended up representing the missionaries. I didn't do it on purpose, but I think a lot of people will remember what I talked about the most because I used jokes to make my point. People remember jokes better than a speech. We just talked about the need for greater communication, and the need for missionaries to build trust with members. Apparently, I spoke so authoratively that the Bishop asked me if I was the District Leader. My response: "Nope! I'm the Junior Newbie." I got quite a round of chuckles from that one as the Bishop turned around to confirm with my companion. It was a funny moment.
*siiip* "Bleh! Still a mistake. It's really the aftertaste that's the worst."
Anyway, after that we went out to proselyte. We taught a lesson, and essentailly offered to be "Missionary Run Alcoholics Anonymous" as a woman shared her life story with us. I got to share a powerful testimony (because the Spirit let me for some reason... ;P) and I could see it hitting this woman hard. Her friend was feeling the spirit too. Keep in mind: these are both women who believe that they're "saved," but I testified of the Savior's Atonement. I'm still feeling the spirit as I think back on the moment. I borrowed some words from Brad Wilcox who gave a talk titled: "His Grace is Sufficient." It's a rather excellent one, I've heard it about 5 times.
"We aren't earning Heaven, we're learning Heaven."
For myself, it will be weird having the first lesson we teach be the Word of Wisdom, but you do what you need to do.
After that, we were bounced a few times. We ended up waiting on a street corner for 40 minutes before giving up. I had to deal with a crowd of annoying kids asking me if I knew Obama. I just ignored them except for the time that I told them: "Toka Appa." It's a bit rude, but it's a way of saying "get outta here."
I did give one of them a Pamphlet for some reason. I dunno why, just chalk it up to the spirit. Planting seeds wherever he tells me to.
We were bounced again after that, so we rested at the flat for a little while (Fast Sunday, we're both dying by this point, me more than my comp) then we headed to our last appointment. We ate dinner, they all chatted about "Football" (Soccer *eye roll*), I got accused of liking American Football, to which I replied that I didn't care about it. I don't care about any sports, but the sport I take any effort (no matter how small) to care about is soccer. I blame Alekken, he'd probably accept that blame with great joy. I dunno at this point, but maybe.
We taught a lesson, and I read from "The Family" it was a nice evening, even if they did try to kill me with food right after breaking a fast. We had to run (literally at one point) back to the flat, and made home safe by about 5 minutes. My comp does NOT want to call the Mission President, so he avoids being home late at all costs. I can't say I blame him.
*siiip* Bleh! I'm officially done with this stuff! The rest of this is going down the sink!"
Monday, July 1, 2019
7/1/2019 I gave myself my first bad hair cut of my mission, the first of many.
6/24
Today marks my first five months in the mission field. I'm celebrating with the retrieval of my other suitcase, with the several kilos of candy that I left in it to be under weight when I flew to Tanzania. I also celebrated by ordering a full, 3-piece, suit. It was $52. I'm rather happy about it, and I'll be picking it up in two weeks.
That's really all that happened today. Aside from that, it was just emailing home. Oh, by the by: 100KSh is $1. There's the handy little conversion that I know. I try not to convert too often because I'll become wasteful. I think in terms of my allotment, and I think in terms of the value of money here. $0.50 is a lot of money here. I can buy a loaf of bread, 1/2 kilo of sugar, a bottle of 300ml Soda, or two avocados. The value of money is kinda weird, just know that I consider 50 bob (what they call the money under 100 Shillings) a lot of money. My companion told me that between the two of us we'd spend about 1000 on credit for the phone in a fortnight. My jaw hit the floor at how expensive it was. In Tanzania, we spent 10,000 TSh per month on our phone, that's 500KSh. We spend more in a week here, than I did in a month there. Something else to miss I suppose.
6/26
Ahhh...mmmmm...well...this is kinda awkward. I kinda went to bed early last night, and forgot to update. It was worth it because I got 10 hours of sleep, but it wasn't worth it, because I got 10 hours of sleep. I'm way too used to functioning on too little sleep, so getting that much was actually a big detriment.
Anyway, yesterday was actually pretty interesting. We spent all day yesterday working with a member named Alan. He's preparing for a mission, and says that he'll be going on it in a year. I'm kinda: "you haven't set a date." By that, I mean that I have learned (through long hours of experience) that people don't keep commitments unless they're properly time bound, so my instinct is to set a date for him to go, but whatever.
B. Alan was powerful, and a huge help. He actually has a pretty good idea already about how to teach. I'm firmly of the opinion that he just needs to put in his papers, but we'll be making use of him every week until he leaves, or we leave, or the area is white-washed and he's forgotten. He'll probably be hunted down to help again anyway, this guy is good.
Anyway, we got to teach a few lessons, and we did A LOT of contacting. Because we had B.Alan with us, we were able to contact at the Govt. Housing. There were some (see many) there who didn't really speak English, so we had Alan do all the contacting in Swahili, and we took care of the rest. I happily threw him to the dogs several times in English as well: "This pamphlet will help you understand more about our church, and my companion Brother Alan will explain a little of what's in it." I'm very used to E.Kanda doing this to me, so I happily did it to B.Alan.
We ended the day, and I tried Avocado for the very first time. I figured that starting with one so big that it was 3x bigger than my palm was a good place to start. I also had my companion help me pick out a good one. Conclusion? Meh. I wasn't missing out on anything. It was pretty much just salty mush. I didn't find anything in it to like, and I didn't find anything in it to hate.
I'm also very certain that it was a good avocado because of how happy my companion was when I gave him the half of it that I didn't eat. Also, I gave avocado a PROPER chance. I ate half of one, and my conclusion was unchanged from the first bite to the last.
Today was rather boring. We had DDM, had lunch, got bounced 3 times, I gave fire to an investigator that may or may not have involved the spirit (I really haven't figured out if it was with the spirit or not), and we had a new investigator. All that, plus A LOT of contacting after we got bounced for the third time. We got quite a few numbers, so hopefully we'll have some good (serious) investigators from the pile we met today.
There was one funny guy who refused to give us his name so that we "didn't do anything with it," but that was the most interesting thing.
"A new Enemy"
Well, I think some of you might be familiar with the few different types of mosquitoes that I listed out in a previous update. Unfortunately, there's a new type.
I have yet to come up with a good name for the new type, but I'm playing around with "Immortal."
There's no other way to explain what I've seen with this new type. I have literally smacked them, there was no doubt in my accuracy or the lethality of my blow, but they still get up and fly away like I'd done nothing. This has happened a few times, so either there's one Immortal one, or a new type that I should fear beyond all logic. Fuuuuuuuunnnnnn.
6/27
"Pride, in a bad thing."
Elder Benson: "...you sure? Yours would be easier because I could actually see it."
Elder Kanda: *nervous chuckle* "No, I'm good."
Well, I gave myself my first bad hair cut of my mission, the first of many. How bad is it? Bad enough to get my companion laughing. The top is fine, I can see that part in the mirror, and the sides are mostly fine, just a little uneven, but it's the back that's bad. My companion's ministrations couldn't save the back. Am I gonna get it fixed?
HECK NO!!! I'm super proud of my bad hair cut. I'll let it grow out, and give it another bad hair cut later. I knew going into the process that it would be a bad hair cut, but that was something I accepted for the price point: free.
The saddest part of it all: I probably gave myself a better hair cut than I'd get at a Kenyan barber. I've heard some rather...nasty...stories of Kenyan barbers. So I'll stick to my own atrocious skill. FUN!!!
Still proud of it.
Anyway, today was interesting. We started the day doing service at an Orphanage, I loved up the cat there since I need my fluffy. It is the only cat I've been willing to touch since I came out on mission, and considering the dogs here, I won't be touching a dog - ever. Anyway, it felt nice, I needed some fluffy in my life. The fact that it was a friendly cat helped everything.
After service we returned to the flat, after being lied to of course. We tried to get on a Matatu (what they call Daladala here) to a place near the flat, but the conductor lied to us. The bus we got on was going to inner city Nairobi, not near the flat. Fortunately, we caught it pretty early, so we only had to walk a hundred or so extra meters instead of kilometers if we hadn't caught it early.
My companion and I went out to a few different appointments after that: a Less Active whose child is getting Baptized on Sunday, and a Woman whose husband is a member.
With the first one, I could see the influence false Doctrine had on her, they watch a lot of preachers here in Kenya, and they don't always differentiate between the teachings of the Church, and the assumptions and mistakes of man, so we occasionally have to perform clean-up. The lesson did go well though.
With the Part-Member family, I'm rather proud of this woman. I gave her what pretty much amounted to a pop quiz to see what she'd remembered, and she was able to answer every question except the trick question I threw at her Q: Who is the greatest prophet who ever live? A: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It's a trick question because we all have a tendency to rank him above a "mere" prophet, so a lot of people don't consider him one. We taught some of the Plan of Salvation after that, and she accepted Baptism. I'm very happy with her so far, and I see great hope in an Eternal Family coming out of this in the end.
"Elder Kanda vs the Supermarket"
There is a "Supermarket" near the flat that we frequent enough to know the clerk there extremely well. E. Kanda likes to tease and mess with her, and she likes to tease and mess with him. I just watch on in amusement, and for some reason she considers me an ally. It's funny, and weird, but that's how it goes.
They often end up arguing about "chupa," "bottles," since the Supermarket has a Milk ATM, and E. Kanda likes the Milk. I honestly don't get why they argue at this point, it's almost like an old married couple fighting just to fight, but with no actual hard feelings coming into play. Funny, weird, and of course, I'm always amused. Every. Single. Day.
6/28
Welp, we started out day right: Comp Study, then two new investigators. We met with a B.Joseph at the church, and he brought his friend: Peter. I was rather amused and excited to have these two new investigators, especially since 4 of the 5 we planned on having bounced us for one reason or another. One of them told us a different time when we called from the meeting point, so we bounced her, and went to another appointment.
I did have an interesting experience with Kenyan hospitality today though. We finished a lesson with S.Lynette (who accepted Baptism, only to tell us that she'd be traveling right afterwards), got up to leave, and the head of the household grabbed my arm and sat me back down. They refused to let us leave until they'd fed us. Fortunately, we were bounced for an appointment that we had tried to leave for, so we could stick around without issue, but it was still interesting.
Later today, we taught an 8 year old who will be Baptized later this week. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (see Preach my Gospel Ch.3), and then we read 2 Nephi 31:5-12 with him. His mother was very supportive during the whole lesson, and we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon for his very own. I went through and highlighted a few verses, and so did my companion, then I cheerfully handed him a pen, with a big grin on my face, and told him to write his name in it. It was a good lesson, but it took a very long time.
Because of how long the previous lesson was, we were staring at the clock as we rushed to our last appointment with an RC named Tracy. Because of how short the time was, we read a few verses with her, and assigned her to read Mosiah 5, her older brother may have commented on my hair cut, then we ran out, and sped walked back to the flat to make it before Home Safe. We made it, barely. By ten minutes, which is cutting it way too close.
6/29
"How was your day?"
"..."
"???"
"It's a mixed bag."
"Whai?"
"Well, we started this morning with Weekly Planning, then we got bounced by our first appointment of the day, then the second. I also blew up at a shop owner. So we didn't start out too well."
"Well, if the beginning was pretty bad, then was the rest of the day good? Also, what was that about blowing up at a shop keeper?"
"Well, things actually got nice toward the end of the day, we have two new investigators, and one of them may be serious. As far as the shop keeper...I blew up on behalf of my companion. He tried to check the price of a jacket, and they quoted a mzungu price to him. This is the third time this has happened this week, so I kinda lost it and cut into their conversation to call the guy out on it: "You mean a mzungu price! Well, I'm not buying it, he is!" I then stood outside the shop and grumpily stared at the ground."
"Mzungu?"
"White guy."
"Ahh. So, what's a mzungu price."
"Well, when people here see someone white, they think that they are/I am rich, so some of them will jack the prices up super high, regardless of who's actually doing the buying, if they see me. It's completely deplorable, and I hate to see them do it to my companion. He tried to check the price of some shoes later, and I hid around the corner for his sake. Oh yeah, I also did laundry today, and I hate doing laundry."
"Well, so far this day doesn't seem really good."
"No, no! It ended well. That pretty much improves the quality of the rest of the day. We had a really good lesson with Mama and Baba Blessings. We went over the Restoration, and started re-teaching the Plan of Salvation. We did get stuck early on because they were both kinda confused by false doctrine. That blasted Trinity again. I mean no disrespect to God, but I really hate how a simple and plain truth has been so warped, and confuses people so much - to the point that it even makes more sense to some of the people here. After about 10 minutes of explaining doctrine, my companion whipped out Hebrews 1:1-4, and they got it."
"Anything else good happen?"
"Yes, during the same lesson, I got to wear my pride, and the experiences of my Mother, on my sleeve. Mama and Baba Blessings are having a hard time with church attendance because of their two children. They don't like coming to church (the children). I used some of what I've heard my Mother share of her experiences in Nursery to teach them. I explained that yes, the children would have a hard time at first since it would be a change, but it was important that the parents bring them so that they could learn to love the Lord, and to make friends. I used a few different examples of my Mother's experiences to talk them through it, and they eventually agreed to come tomorrow.
I had a lot of support this lesson from the Lord, my Companion, and my Mother. So it was a very nice lesson."
"That's cool! Have you ever used your Father as an example before?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"Tithing."
"..."
"It always works."
"*ahem* Why do you call your investigators: Mama and Baba Blessings?"
"Ahh, that's just something about the culture here. Mama means mother, and Baba means Father. So when you're talking to parents, you sometimes call them after the names of their children. In the case of these investigators, their eldest child's name is Blessings, so we call them Mama and Baba Blessings. It works for some reason here."
"Cool, my interview is done. Go to bed you idiot. It's past 10:30."
"Yup, on it. Night. Tutuou nana kesho - Oyasumi'nasai."
6/30
Well, today was nice enough. We started the day off (after church) with 6 baptisms - primary children. There were supposed to be 4 more, of 11 year old children, but they hadn't finished the lessons yet, so they'll have to wait till next week.
Anyway, it was a nice service, and it was weird having baptismal services in English, instead of Swahili. It was almost confusing to me after having spent almost 5 months in Tanzania. "Where's the Swahili?" I will say that it was REALLY nice to understand, just felt weird.
After the services, E.Saunders came by to interview the other 4 kids for their baptism NEXT week, instead of this week. They had me keep the kids company before they went into the interview, so I taught them how to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in Japanese. I don't want to know how many rounds we played. I really don't know. We had a few children who were just passing by join in at one point, so I was watching a very large group of smiling children. Well, large for Kenya - about 6 or 7.
They thought it was funny when I said "Aikoudesho" (Let's do it again), so it probably means something in Swahili, or their Mother Tongues. Fun.
Anyway, after that we got bounced, visited a Recent Convert and his Wife (not a member) and had a nice discussion about Families. We left them with a My Family: A Proclamation to the World pamphlet.
After that, we headed over to S.Linda and her husband B.Michael's home. We're teaching S.Linda right now, and she accepted baptism during our last visit to her, so we gave her her date today: July 28. She's very excited for it, so I'm betting that she'll meet it. That was it for the day. The few visits we had were very long, and the baptism took a while.
Today marks my first five months in the mission field. I'm celebrating with the retrieval of my other suitcase, with the several kilos of candy that I left in it to be under weight when I flew to Tanzania. I also celebrated by ordering a full, 3-piece, suit. It was $52. I'm rather happy about it, and I'll be picking it up in two weeks.
That's really all that happened today. Aside from that, it was just emailing home. Oh, by the by: 100KSh is $1. There's the handy little conversion that I know. I try not to convert too often because I'll become wasteful. I think in terms of my allotment, and I think in terms of the value of money here. $0.50 is a lot of money here. I can buy a loaf of bread, 1/2 kilo of sugar, a bottle of 300ml Soda, or two avocados. The value of money is kinda weird, just know that I consider 50 bob (what they call the money under 100 Shillings) a lot of money. My companion told me that between the two of us we'd spend about 1000 on credit for the phone in a fortnight. My jaw hit the floor at how expensive it was. In Tanzania, we spent 10,000 TSh per month on our phone, that's 500KSh. We spend more in a week here, than I did in a month there. Something else to miss I suppose.
6/26
Ahhh...mmmmm...well...this is kinda awkward. I kinda went to bed early last night, and forgot to update. It was worth it because I got 10 hours of sleep, but it wasn't worth it, because I got 10 hours of sleep. I'm way too used to functioning on too little sleep, so getting that much was actually a big detriment.
Anyway, yesterday was actually pretty interesting. We spent all day yesterday working with a member named Alan. He's preparing for a mission, and says that he'll be going on it in a year. I'm kinda: "you haven't set a date." By that, I mean that I have learned (through long hours of experience) that people don't keep commitments unless they're properly time bound, so my instinct is to set a date for him to go, but whatever.
B. Alan was powerful, and a huge help. He actually has a pretty good idea already about how to teach. I'm firmly of the opinion that he just needs to put in his papers, but we'll be making use of him every week until he leaves, or we leave, or the area is white-washed and he's forgotten. He'll probably be hunted down to help again anyway, this guy is good.
Anyway, we got to teach a few lessons, and we did A LOT of contacting. Because we had B.Alan with us, we were able to contact at the Govt. Housing. There were some (see many) there who didn't really speak English, so we had Alan do all the contacting in Swahili, and we took care of the rest. I happily threw him to the dogs several times in English as well: "This pamphlet will help you understand more about our church, and my companion Brother Alan will explain a little of what's in it." I'm very used to E.Kanda doing this to me, so I happily did it to B.Alan.
We ended the day, and I tried Avocado for the very first time. I figured that starting with one so big that it was 3x bigger than my palm was a good place to start. I also had my companion help me pick out a good one. Conclusion? Meh. I wasn't missing out on anything. It was pretty much just salty mush. I didn't find anything in it to like, and I didn't find anything in it to hate.
I'm also very certain that it was a good avocado because of how happy my companion was when I gave him the half of it that I didn't eat. Also, I gave avocado a PROPER chance. I ate half of one, and my conclusion was unchanged from the first bite to the last.
Today was rather boring. We had DDM, had lunch, got bounced 3 times, I gave fire to an investigator that may or may not have involved the spirit (I really haven't figured out if it was with the spirit or not), and we had a new investigator. All that, plus A LOT of contacting after we got bounced for the third time. We got quite a few numbers, so hopefully we'll have some good (serious) investigators from the pile we met today.
There was one funny guy who refused to give us his name so that we "didn't do anything with it," but that was the most interesting thing.
"A new Enemy"
Well, I think some of you might be familiar with the few different types of mosquitoes that I listed out in a previous update. Unfortunately, there's a new type.
I have yet to come up with a good name for the new type, but I'm playing around with "Immortal."
There's no other way to explain what I've seen with this new type. I have literally smacked them, there was no doubt in my accuracy or the lethality of my blow, but they still get up and fly away like I'd done nothing. This has happened a few times, so either there's one Immortal one, or a new type that I should fear beyond all logic. Fuuuuuuuunnnnnn.
6/27
"Pride, in a bad thing."
Elder Benson: "...you sure? Yours would be easier because I could actually see it."
Elder Kanda: *nervous chuckle* "No, I'm good."
Well, I gave myself my first bad hair cut of my mission, the first of many. How bad is it? Bad enough to get my companion laughing. The top is fine, I can see that part in the mirror, and the sides are mostly fine, just a little uneven, but it's the back that's bad. My companion's ministrations couldn't save the back. Am I gonna get it fixed?
HECK NO!!! I'm super proud of my bad hair cut. I'll let it grow out, and give it another bad hair cut later. I knew going into the process that it would be a bad hair cut, but that was something I accepted for the price point: free.
The saddest part of it all: I probably gave myself a better hair cut than I'd get at a Kenyan barber. I've heard some rather...nasty...stories of Kenyan barbers. So I'll stick to my own atrocious skill. FUN!!!
Still proud of it.
Anyway, today was interesting. We started the day doing service at an Orphanage, I loved up the cat there since I need my fluffy. It is the only cat I've been willing to touch since I came out on mission, and considering the dogs here, I won't be touching a dog - ever. Anyway, it felt nice, I needed some fluffy in my life. The fact that it was a friendly cat helped everything.
After service we returned to the flat, after being lied to of course. We tried to get on a Matatu (what they call Daladala here) to a place near the flat, but the conductor lied to us. The bus we got on was going to inner city Nairobi, not near the flat. Fortunately, we caught it pretty early, so we only had to walk a hundred or so extra meters instead of kilometers if we hadn't caught it early.
My companion and I went out to a few different appointments after that: a Less Active whose child is getting Baptized on Sunday, and a Woman whose husband is a member.
With the first one, I could see the influence false Doctrine had on her, they watch a lot of preachers here in Kenya, and they don't always differentiate between the teachings of the Church, and the assumptions and mistakes of man, so we occasionally have to perform clean-up. The lesson did go well though.
With the Part-Member family, I'm rather proud of this woman. I gave her what pretty much amounted to a pop quiz to see what she'd remembered, and she was able to answer every question except the trick question I threw at her Q: Who is the greatest prophet who ever live? A: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It's a trick question because we all have a tendency to rank him above a "mere" prophet, so a lot of people don't consider him one. We taught some of the Plan of Salvation after that, and she accepted Baptism. I'm very happy with her so far, and I see great hope in an Eternal Family coming out of this in the end.
"Elder Kanda vs the Supermarket"
There is a "Supermarket" near the flat that we frequent enough to know the clerk there extremely well. E. Kanda likes to tease and mess with her, and she likes to tease and mess with him. I just watch on in amusement, and for some reason she considers me an ally. It's funny, and weird, but that's how it goes.
They often end up arguing about "chupa," "bottles," since the Supermarket has a Milk ATM, and E. Kanda likes the Milk. I honestly don't get why they argue at this point, it's almost like an old married couple fighting just to fight, but with no actual hard feelings coming into play. Funny, weird, and of course, I'm always amused. Every. Single. Day.
6/28
Welp, we started out day right: Comp Study, then two new investigators. We met with a B.Joseph at the church, and he brought his friend: Peter. I was rather amused and excited to have these two new investigators, especially since 4 of the 5 we planned on having bounced us for one reason or another. One of them told us a different time when we called from the meeting point, so we bounced her, and went to another appointment.
I did have an interesting experience with Kenyan hospitality today though. We finished a lesson with S.Lynette (who accepted Baptism, only to tell us that she'd be traveling right afterwards), got up to leave, and the head of the household grabbed my arm and sat me back down. They refused to let us leave until they'd fed us. Fortunately, we were bounced for an appointment that we had tried to leave for, so we could stick around without issue, but it was still interesting.
Later today, we taught an 8 year old who will be Baptized later this week. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (see Preach my Gospel Ch.3), and then we read 2 Nephi 31:5-12 with him. His mother was very supportive during the whole lesson, and we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon for his very own. I went through and highlighted a few verses, and so did my companion, then I cheerfully handed him a pen, with a big grin on my face, and told him to write his name in it. It was a good lesson, but it took a very long time.
Because of how long the previous lesson was, we were staring at the clock as we rushed to our last appointment with an RC named Tracy. Because of how short the time was, we read a few verses with her, and assigned her to read Mosiah 5, her older brother may have commented on my hair cut, then we ran out, and sped walked back to the flat to make it before Home Safe. We made it, barely. By ten minutes, which is cutting it way too close.
6/29
"How was your day?"
"..."
"???"
"It's a mixed bag."
"Whai?"
"Well, we started this morning with Weekly Planning, then we got bounced by our first appointment of the day, then the second. I also blew up at a shop owner. So we didn't start out too well."
"Well, if the beginning was pretty bad, then was the rest of the day good? Also, what was that about blowing up at a shop keeper?"
"Well, things actually got nice toward the end of the day, we have two new investigators, and one of them may be serious. As far as the shop keeper...I blew up on behalf of my companion. He tried to check the price of a jacket, and they quoted a mzungu price to him. This is the third time this has happened this week, so I kinda lost it and cut into their conversation to call the guy out on it: "You mean a mzungu price! Well, I'm not buying it, he is!" I then stood outside the shop and grumpily stared at the ground."
"Mzungu?"
"White guy."
"Ahh. So, what's a mzungu price."
"Well, when people here see someone white, they think that they are/I am rich, so some of them will jack the prices up super high, regardless of who's actually doing the buying, if they see me. It's completely deplorable, and I hate to see them do it to my companion. He tried to check the price of some shoes later, and I hid around the corner for his sake. Oh yeah, I also did laundry today, and I hate doing laundry."
"Well, so far this day doesn't seem really good."
"No, no! It ended well. That pretty much improves the quality of the rest of the day. We had a really good lesson with Mama and Baba Blessings. We went over the Restoration, and started re-teaching the Plan of Salvation. We did get stuck early on because they were both kinda confused by false doctrine. That blasted Trinity again. I mean no disrespect to God, but I really hate how a simple and plain truth has been so warped, and confuses people so much - to the point that it even makes more sense to some of the people here. After about 10 minutes of explaining doctrine, my companion whipped out Hebrews 1:1-4, and they got it."
"Anything else good happen?"
"Yes, during the same lesson, I got to wear my pride, and the experiences of my Mother, on my sleeve. Mama and Baba Blessings are having a hard time with church attendance because of their two children. They don't like coming to church (the children). I used some of what I've heard my Mother share of her experiences in Nursery to teach them. I explained that yes, the children would have a hard time at first since it would be a change, but it was important that the parents bring them so that they could learn to love the Lord, and to make friends. I used a few different examples of my Mother's experiences to talk them through it, and they eventually agreed to come tomorrow.
I had a lot of support this lesson from the Lord, my Companion, and my Mother. So it was a very nice lesson."
"That's cool! Have you ever used your Father as an example before?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"Tithing."
"..."
"It always works."
"*ahem* Why do you call your investigators: Mama and Baba Blessings?"
"Ahh, that's just something about the culture here. Mama means mother, and Baba means Father. So when you're talking to parents, you sometimes call them after the names of their children. In the case of these investigators, their eldest child's name is Blessings, so we call them Mama and Baba Blessings. It works for some reason here."
"Cool, my interview is done. Go to bed you idiot. It's past 10:30."
"Yup, on it. Night. Tutuou nana kesho - Oyasumi'nasai."
6/30
Well, today was nice enough. We started the day off (after church) with 6 baptisms - primary children. There were supposed to be 4 more, of 11 year old children, but they hadn't finished the lessons yet, so they'll have to wait till next week.
Anyway, it was a nice service, and it was weird having baptismal services in English, instead of Swahili. It was almost confusing to me after having spent almost 5 months in Tanzania. "Where's the Swahili?" I will say that it was REALLY nice to understand, just felt weird.
After the services, E.Saunders came by to interview the other 4 kids for their baptism NEXT week, instead of this week. They had me keep the kids company before they went into the interview, so I taught them how to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in Japanese. I don't want to know how many rounds we played. I really don't know. We had a few children who were just passing by join in at one point, so I was watching a very large group of smiling children. Well, large for Kenya - about 6 or 7.
They thought it was funny when I said "Aikoudesho" (Let's do it again), so it probably means something in Swahili, or their Mother Tongues. Fun.
Anyway, after that we got bounced, visited a Recent Convert and his Wife (not a member) and had a nice discussion about Families. We left them with a My Family: A Proclamation to the World pamphlet.
After that, we headed over to S.Linda and her husband B.Michael's home. We're teaching S.Linda right now, and she accepted baptism during our last visit to her, so we gave her her date today: July 28. She's very excited for it, so I'm betting that she'll meet it. That was it for the day. The few visits we had were very long, and the baptism took a while.
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