9/22/2019 -- today was an info dump because I was introduced to a lot of people in a short amount of time.

9/20
Well, today was fun. We started off by going to interviews in Buruburu. I am honestly impressed with President: traffic made him over half an hour late, but he was still able to get ahead of schedule with interviews. He's fast, mine was probably one of the longer interviews - the reason being because I asked him a few questions.

After interviews we went to lunch with a rather large group of missionaries - imagine trying to fit a group of over eight missionaries in a room smaller than my bedroom and still include space for tables and chairs - enough for everyone to sit. It was a tight squeeze.

After that E. Mukendi and I headed back to our area to teach a few lessons. Unfortunately, one bounced and the other was a few hours late - so we didn't have time like I wanted to for contacting. Oh well, it was a good lesson with this sister, and S. Cynthia showed up to help us teach so that was fun.

Currently, the power is on the fritz. It's pretty much back-to-back brown outs. It makes doing anything rather annoying. Oh well. It should work itself out in the end.

9/21
Well, another day of proselyting lost. We headed over to Lucky Summer first thing in the morning for the open house that was being held there. It was nice because I got to chat with E. Cole a bit, but we didn't really get the chance to seriously talk because our attentions were directed elsewhere. After the open house we had to come back and do weekly planning - so we had no time to really proselyte. It was annoying. I don't like doing weekly planning in the evening because it's just wasted time.

After weekly planning the other Elders came by to use our kitchen since their gas isn't working. They were here for quite a bit of time - E. Clegg beat me in chess - then left. Of course, I had to laundry after that. Ya'll are going to hear me complain a lot about laundry when I get home. I'm seriously considering giving the washing machine a hug when I get back home.

9/22
Well, today was an info dump. An info dump is when you give too much unfamiliar information in a short amount of time. You see it in bad writers.

Anyway, today was an info dump because I was introduced to a lot of people in a short amount of time. It happened last Sunday too, but this one was worse. I can only remember two names from today and I have a massive headache if it's any indication of how many people we met.

9/19/2019 -- I threw E. Mukendi under the bus this morning

9/16
Well, we went to Buruburu today. There was an activity there and my comp wanted to go. E.Cole wasn't there - so I wasn't really that interested in going. We chatted some with the other missionaries and I talked with E. Bamongo and E. Tshangu to check in on how Lucky Summer was doing. They started talking about one of the investigators and my response was: "when are going to drop that guy? He's not progressing, he's not keeping commitments, and he's not coming to church."Apparently, it's this guy's greatest ambition to become a Pastor... Apparently, E. Tshangu had to re-teach the great Apostasy, and he and E. Bamongo were planning on blasting this guy next time they saw him. My response was still: "Drop him.

"Nothing else much for the day. We just cybered.

9/17
Well, today was stressful. First thing in the morning at least. We had to go pick up allotment. I wasn't planning on it taking fairly long since I knew of an ATM nearby, but E. Mukendi failed to inform me that his card and that specific ATM don't get along. So I got everything just fine, but we had to speed-walk for over an hour to reach one that would work with his card. I had a "we need to find another ATM for you, this one is way too fetching far."

Something funny I've found in this area is that if I put my mind to it I can find things I want. The first example was with the cyber. I wanted a better, cheaper one - so I found two (and approximately four more today alone). I want an ATM closer to the flat that E. Mukendi can use - I found three potentials. I hope this skill translates well for when I get back home. It'll make looking for an eternal companion much easier.

Anyway, the reason why this was stressful to me is because I still place a lot of importance on punctuality - even if no one else here does. We had an appointment at 11 that bounced us. He might have been there if we were on time, but we were late and he wasn't there. *sigh*...there's no point wasting my time on "what ifs.

"We had to run back to the flat quick after that bounce and came back to the church. I had a quick lunch and E. Mukendi decided to forgo lunch with me by having a snack while we were at the flat. Well, not that it could really be called lunch anyway.

After lunch we taught two good appointments. I was really working with the spirit today, and asked some interesting questions I've never asked before. "Do you believe what we're teaching you could be possible?""Do you thing God could call another prophet?"and others. I always ask questions, but today's were rather pointed. It wasn't hard to figure out that this guy wasn't believing a word of what we were teaching him - spirit of discernment and all that. I'm reasonably sure that we're going to lose this guy, but it all depends on what he does once he's on his own. IF he prays he'll stick around. IF not he'll be gone like the expiration date on last year's cheese.

The second lesson was kinda hard. This lady broke down crying. I tried my best, but I'm not exactly the best at comfort in these kind of situations. She's a powerful lady though, she wants to be washed free of all her sins so badly, and she wants the same for all her children. Powerful.

We contacted after that then came back. My comp was in bed before 9 because he was exhausted from all the walking today. I'm pretty tired too, but I'm not weak enough to do something as out of character as going to sleep early. That said, I do need sleep - badly. Night.

9/19
For today we started off by being bounced - twice - both the primary and back-up weren't there.

We went contacting, had lunch, and headed to the church for our second appointment - who did show on time - I was honestly surprised this guy came at all. I had asked him last time we taught him if he thought that it was possible for God to do all the things that would make it possible for the Restoration - he said no....I kinda thought we lost this guy after that. It's why I like teaching the Restoration first. It weeds through all those who think revelation and miracles no longer apply to our time - they usually leave. Well, this guy stuck around so we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was internally chanting when E. Mukendi was teaching him Baptism: "Don't give him a date. Don't give him a date."Why? Well, this guy has told us he wants to be Baptized already, but I'm not gonna do it until I see the fruits of Repentance and Conversion.

After this guy we went to see a Recent Convert who was brought to the church by her son after he was converted, but her son has since gone less active while she's going strong. Funny situation, she literally pointed this out to us. We taught her about the temple and reminded her about family history, then we were outta there.

Our last appointment of the day was to see S. Angela and her family. It was a nice Dinner Appointment. I threw E. Mukendi under the bus this morning during planning and told him that he was in charge of the spiritual thought, so I got to sit back in amusement. Fortunately, I had the decency to give him an eight hour or so warning. Sometimes missionaries will look at each other (especially when there's more than one companionship) trying to figure out who'll do it while a spokesman is buying time for them to sell out one of their companions, or for one brave soul to step forward. I think it's funny.

9/16/2019 -- We had three people we're teaching come to church.

9/13
Today was slow. We had one lesson, contacted, and did weekly planning. These three things took all day.

After about five hours sitting on the couch I was losing my mind: three hours for weekly planning, one hour for planning, and one hour for language study. Well, that was supposed to be how much time everything took, but some stuff was longer than other stuff. It still took five hours in the end. That really sucked, but it was nice to rest some. So far it has been go, go, go since I got here. We've been contacting 10 people minimum every day, teaching as many lessons as possible, meeting as many members as possible, and I've been working on breaking my comp's bad habits - the ones given to him by his trainer.

I can't blame him at all - he didn't know any better, and it usually happens anyway. I will say, mad props to E. Mukendi. He has been really humble and patient with this whole thing. If I have to train then I want to train someone like him.

9/14
Okay, there wasn't much today. We got one new investigator when a woman invited us to share a bit of our lesson when we were out contacting, clearly we contacted, we had one lesson, and we helped clean the chapel because enough people to clean it didn't show up. I swept if you're wondering.

Yeah, that was our entire day.

9/16
Well, today was a mixed bag.

On our way to church we ran into a referral we'd gotten from the other elders last night. She promised to come to church but didn't show.

At the church we set up chairs and I went back to my old routine of greeting everyone who walked through the door, and I was in my seat at 5 to the hour. The best part?

I got to sit with B.Richard, one of the people we met and started teaching this week. We had three people we're teaching come to church.

I gave what I thought was a nice testimony, but the PA system didn't pick it up too well, so apparently nobody heard it. I had a member mention it to me afterward. Dang.

During the second block I ended up adding a lot to the discussion - more than usual. I usually keep silent because I think it's important for members to contribute more than missionaries, but we were talking about trials today, so I felt qualified to talk.

After the service I said good bye to B.Richard and waited...and waited...and waited...and finally saw Bishop.

We had a good meeting with him and hopefully this will be the beginning of advancing the work in the Kayole 2nd Ward. After the meeting we went with a member to visit one of our investigators. This guy has made me mad. He bounced us three times this week and didn't even have the decency to tell us that he wouldn't be able to come whenever something came up - he just shut off his phone. I had dropped this guy, but he reached out to us so we went to see him. He introduced us to his wife and his brother in law and his wife.

We taught a pretty good lesson and left. That was the end of our day. Not too bad, but I'm wiped.

9/12/2019 -- He would be powerful if he was converted.

9/10
PRAISE BE!!! I FOUND A CYBER FOR 30 bob/hr! It will probably suck, but so long as it doesn't suck more than the other one it will be tolerable. It's a 40min walk from the flat though... that's the downside.

Anyway, we spent 4 hours in weekly planning today and didn't get everything I wanted to done. I did get to experience another bout of horror when I got a good look at the area book. I barely made a dent in it during those 4 hours.

Anyway, things are pretty well on track here. We're gonna be contacting a lot, we're gonna try to see as many people as we can, and we're just gonna try to get this area up and going.

Not going to be easy - we were bounced three times today. The only person who showed was the member who was supposed to help us teach. I made her die laughing with my descriptions of the Old Testament. She now want to read it for some reason - despite that fact that I made it very clear that Leviticus existed solely as a cure for insomnia. I also explained Jacob's story like it was an anime plot: "NANI???? ANO BETSU NA ONNA WA AKUMA DA!!!"That was fun. She died laughing and I kinda hope my comp did too (he was sitting behind me so I couldn't see him). I then proceeded to strongly recommend Saints.
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I suppose this is what it means to have a captive audience.

Anyway, we came back to the flat early and I tried to figure out how the heck language study works. I still haven't.

After we finished that the other Elders stopped by and E.Segale beat me in a chess game in less than two minutes. Man! It's been forever since I played last. I don't think it was hard for him to trounce me. Well, not that I was ever that good at chess to begin with. I never played it enough.

I got to see E. Clegg for the first time in three months as well. It was kinda weird.

9/12
Well, we finally got to see the fruits of some of our contacting today. We have four new investigators. 2 of the four have interesting stories.

The first interesting story is when we were teaching a Brother named Moses. Apparently, he hadn't told his father we would be coming, so when this guy walked in on the lessons he acted rather similar to a cornered animal. He was about to throw us out of his house when the spirit put it in my head that he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses. I cleared that up instantly and he calmed down a little. I could see that he was still tense so I offered to leave. He had calmed down enough to be able to say: "no, it's fine. continue."I also invited him to join us, but he was too busy and "firm in his faith."
...

I wanna teach this guy. He would be powerful if he was converted.

As for the guy we were actually there to teach I have no idea what happened. The whole thing was in swahili and I decided to throw my comp into the fire. I know enough swahili by now to follow a lesson, but I just sat there and every-time my comp tried to pass it to me I just looked at him. He and the member we brought with us ended up teaching this short lesson without me and we left. Was I a jerk for doing this? Yes. Am I doing this without a reason? No. Looking back I know why I did it, but I don't know why I started doing that. Must be the spirit because E.Mathemera did the same thing to me when he forced me to take the lead during lessons to help me practice doing it. Fun.

As for the other interesting lesson we had this guy tell us he had two wives. One was sitting there with us who had introduced herself as THE wife, so I think there might be something there. I'm kinda hoping it's a Ï have two wives, but I divorced the first one"kind of thing. I pray that's what it is, because I don't look forward to teaching chastity and I'm trying to figure out whether I should teach it earlier or later. Do I show my hand now to force a decision or do I try to build a testimony while side-stepping a known issue? I'll probably end up asking President if we keep teaching this guy.

Oh, btw. I've only described our morning so far. We did all that before noon. It was nice. The afternoon was empty by comparison. We visited an RC and reviewed the WoW with him, then contacted, then went to see a member. It was a lot slower than the morning, but I'm really wiped for the day.

9/9/2019 -- I got transferred.

9/6
I have a low-level version of the Gift of Prophesy. I got transferred. I'm still in the same Zone, but I'm now in Kayole 2nd. My new companion is called E. Mukendi.

We didn't do too much today - we had weekly planning where I took a nap since I'm leaving, we taught a few lessons and I helped a little, and we went to an orphonage to negotiate a service opportunity. I actually did help out with that last one. *sigh* President shouldn't be telling us this early. I've low-key lost the desire to work...well, it's not that I've lost the desire to work, but I've lost a connection with the work here in Lucky Summer. I certainly still care about the people and the area, but it feels almost like there's a thin glass pane between me and everything else here. It sucks, but it's better than when we received transfer news on Saturday night at 11:30.

9/7
*sigh* The glass pane feels thicker. We worked today, but it wasn't one of my best days. We got some new investigators this morning: a Trio of Software Engineers who I indirectly blasted by talking about my experience seeing so many Atheists back home in comparison to here. The interesting thing with these three is that a belief in God is so ingrained in their society that they do believe in him, they just don't practice or pray or rely on him in any way. It's actually the closest thing I've found to a Kenyan Atheist.

After that we went to the church for an appointment, then got bounced. We headed to our next appointment with E. Cole and his "son"E. Kulondwa to see a member: B. Airo (I-ee-roo). It was a nice visit, then we were out the door to see Steve and Vivian.

My comps taught the Word of Wisdom today, and the kids got it pretty well, so here's hoping that they won't struggle with Chastity tomorrow. Side note: I'm happy I don't have to teach Chastity to these kids - I dread the days of giving my children "The Talk"and I don't want to practice for it.

After those two we went to teach Wycliffe the Word of Wisdom...the longer I'm in Kenya, the more I realize that the major addiction here is Tea. Second place goes to Mirrah. Third to the AL-kee-hol (Karissa, thinking of you with that one). Coffee? Yeah some, but not really. Tobacco? Yeah, plenty. I just haven't taught anyone who smokes yet. Not for lack of trying, but because that's how it works out. I contacted a guy buying cigarettes once. It was kinda funny.

Also, I hate all the smoking here. My mother and siblings won't get the depths of my hatred, but my father has a very clear memory of my hatred of smoking. It hasn't gotten any better.

Anyway, that was the end of our day after that. I did laundry to prepare for my move and chatted with my companions about language. My attempt to convince them to think in English didn't work very well.

Man! I miss Japanese.

9/9
Well, today was horror experience. I got to the flat, changed, and started cleaning. I am honestly horrified by the kitchen - I don't want to be in there. I spent about three hours cleaning then E. Mukendi and I went to cyber.

I quickly learned that my area is expensive when the price I paid AFTER the discount was 230 bob. The cyber sucked too. I'm weeping bloody tears. I need to find a new one.

9/5/2019 -- WHAT IS WITH THIS POWERHOUSE INVESTIGATOR???

9/2
It's Elder Bamongo's Birthday today! Fun!

We didn't do much to celebrate, but it was funny hearing President and his family calling to sing happy birthday to him. I asked him NOT to do the same for my Birthday in my email to him.

We ended up going to Zimmerman so E.Tshangu and a some other Elders could play Basketball. No, I didn't join. There's nothing else interesting for today.

9/3
Well, today started well. We met up with B. Redick and got to work.

We met with B.Daniel first we taught a bit about the Plan of Salvation and answered a few of his questions. One of them is one with a simple answer, but that people often have a hard time accepting: Why does God let bad things happen to good people? It was easy to answer, but I could tell he didn't like the answer that much. My companions had some good input, and I had him read from Doctrine and Covenants 122 and the fifth verse of How Firm a Foundation. My comps handled the other half of the answer.

From there we went to see B. Jack. He's going to boarding school tomorrow, so that's an instant kill to his progress. Hopefully, he'll still be interested when he gets back.

We went to see Wycliffe after that, and I'm still not sure if this guy is serious. Maybe? I'm hoping so, but I'm not sure. He needs to start coming to church.

After that we went to see a Brother named Wilfred. I had to actually stop myself from speaking at one point - I knew I'd give fire and it wouldn't be the nice kind of fire. This guy claims he's received that answer that this Gospel is true, but he's not acting on it at all. He doesn't seem to want to leave his church and he doesn't want to commit. E. Tshangu commited him to Baptism today, and I could literally see that this guy was saying yes to make him happy. I use some scriptures to TRY and coax a genuine answer outta him, but it didn't work. Aigh, I'm tempted to suggest dropping this guy, but we need to give him the opportunity to repent before we drop him - again. E. Ilanda and E. Johnson taught him several months ago.

We also got Pizza tonight. The delivery guy came an hour and a half late. The pizza was nice though -I will admit- that was my first time eating a large pizza in one sitting. I still have one other waiting for me in the fridge.

9/5
It was exchanges with E. Kasongo yesterday, nothing much interesting happened. The most interesting thing is that I saw that E. Sharp had a copy of Saints, so I started reading it the second we got back to the flat. I wasn't able to finish, but I got close enough to wonder if I should have stayed up late to get further. I was able to get through 400 pages, and it was pretty darn interesting. I need to get a hold of a copy for myself so I can read it on my own time and get through that last 100 pages. Highly recommended.

For today, we swapped back (they found me reading Saints this morning) then headed back to the flat for comp study and planning. We then got to work. We met up with B. Redick to see B. Daniel who came an hour late - again. I miss the concept of punctuality. It was a good, albeit depressing, lesson.

After B.Daniel we were bounced so we went to see B. Wycliffe. We ended up teaching the Plan of Salvation and had a pretty good lesson. He just needs to start coming to church.

After that we went to the church and waited for B. Joab.

He brought another referral.
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This makes the 9th one.
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WHAT IS WITH THIS POWERHOUSE INVESTIGATOR??? This guy is strong! He also starting working on his Word of Wisdom issues from the day he met E. Kanda and I - he reported that he'd slipped up twice since then! Twice! Before we ever taught the Word of Wisdom! We taught him it just last week! It's been over a month since he started quitting! Gah! THIS GUY IS POWERFUL!!!!

The issue here is now I don't want to leave. There's a few people I want to stick around and see grow and repent, but I'll probably be transferred. Dang.

9/1/2019 -- Something cool happened today with B. Michael.

8/30
We hauled another member with us today: B. Kelvin. It was a pretty good day, we got to teach B. Joan and he brought someone new with him. This makes the seventh referral from this guy alone. Crazy! Even crazier is that we got a referral today from someone he referred to us.

I'll admit freely: I have no idea what happened during that second lesson. Was it in Swahili? Yes, but that's not why I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea what was going on because my focus was..elsewhere.

This family had a kitten. A blue-eyed, white-furred, fuzzy, soft, and friendly kitten. I spend the entire time loving this thing up. I'm not 100% sure, but I think I got it purring for a while there. I had a really good time this lesson. It's been too long since I've been able to love up a fluffy animal. Not only that, it's a kitten as well; it was as tiny as Kiki was when we first got her and just slightly less cute. I was in heaven and literally could not pull my focus away from this thing until we left - I was physically incapable of doing so. Did I mention that this lesson was in Swahili? So I feel no guilt about loving this thing up.

Oh yeah, I also got to help Bradley out a bit today with FamilySearch.org it was fun putting the skills I know from home to use - especially since I thought I would be useless because of how little I've used the site, but he asked about stuff I knew. Yay! I'm still on a bit of a high from that kitten.

8/31
Well, today was pretty good. We started off by visiting a brother named Jack - he's the younger brother of one of our recent converts: Anthony. He's progressing really well, but we won't be able to teach him for a transfer because he's going to boarding school.

Side note: I'm convinced that boarding school is the root of all evil. I swear every other person mentioned during correlation today was leaving for boarding school! GEH!

Anyway, after Anthony we grabbed a quick lunch (mine was a few chapate) then we taught the kids: Steve and Vivian. It was still in Swahili, and I still have no idea what's going on.

For the last lesson it was supposed to be with a guy named Wycliffe, but when we showed up he had a friend at his shop - so we taught this guy the Restoration. We had to run to correlation after that, then we had to run home and made home safe by 3 minutes.

9/1
Hey! Whaddayaknow? I'm back home! One of my comps bumped the burner turning the gas on without starting the flame!

Well, that little tidbit aside, today was Stake Conference. It was great! I got to watch in amusement as President Mdletshe dropped fire from the heavens and made it bubble from beneath. He even went so far as to do the forbidden attack: comparing Kenya with DRC. DRC got the gospel several years after Kenya, and they now have 21 stakes and a temple. Kenya has two stakes. President gave a lot of fire about that; he put the blame on the members for the lack of the church's growth and made them feel it. I was internally cheering the entire time.

Something funny also happened. When the Stake President got up as the final speaker he realized that he had almost an hour to speak, so he changes gears and calls a few people up to share their testimonies. The first one was the most interesting: an American from California who had arrived earlier today in Kenya. The second he started speaking I leaned over to E.Cole: "You've lost your accent." After some listening and some hushed discussion, we both agreed that we've lost our accents. Hearing it in person instead of some American actor or my parents over the phone really drove that home. I can't decide whether I want my accent to get thicker or stay the same, but it'll probably get thicker.

Our first visit after that all ended was a Swahili lesson where I decided to read as much of proverbs as I could, then came the fun part: we met up with a Recent Convert named Edwin.

Man, this was a fun lesson. I love teaching and explaining things with people who are listening and understanding. It makes things nice! Anyway, his issue was one caused by the Trinity. He was confused about that.

We talked for a while and gave a few examples from the Bible. We whipped out Jesus' Baptism which he didn't really get, and the one I personally like to use because I think it's a little more clear: The Stoning of Steven. The reason why I think it's  a little more clear is because it dispels the stupid justification of: "God just had his voice echo from the Heavens as he was Baptized, and he had a part of himself descend in the form of a dove." With the Stoning of Steven, it clearly states that he saw Jesus ON THE RIGHT HAND of God. I like that one a little more.

We also read Mosiah 15:1-3. Do you have any idea how big of a headache I had trying to figure out how to explain this one to an investigator, a recent convert, less active, or member? This scripture isn't too clear to those who haven't spent some time studying and it's just confusing to Kenyans in general. They don't like reading here. Anyway, E.Tshangu had B. Edwin pull this one up on his phone and I had a: "we're just gonna confuse him with this one" moment. I was right, but I made the best of it.

I taught this brother about how Jesus was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and that's why verse 1 is worded the way it is. Fortunately, we took a different turn before we talked about the other verses. Can I explain to them? Yes. I'm not too confident about my explanation, but I can. The issue is that I don't think I can explain it simply. Oh well, I'll work on it.

The next visit after that was to see S. Linda and B. Michael who we haven't seen since last month!
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No round of applause for that genius joke? Too bad.

In all seriousness, we haven't seen them for a few weeks.

BUT

Something cool happened today with B. Michael. When we came in he was looking at a copy of the Ensign and he started asking us about how one goes about speaking in church. He got super excited when we told him that it would be Testimony meeting next week. It was really cool to see the fire that had been lit in him to talk and share his testimony. This is why we encourage people to study on their own. It's when you earnestly ask God one to one that you gain a strong and spiritual witness. Sure, maybe you're in a crowd of people, maybe it comes from hearing someone else's testimony, but in the end, it's your own personal testimony. It's best won on your own in your own personal study.

I must say, it was pretty cool to see this guy using the atonement in his life in this way. It's one of the greatest blessings I've received as a missionary of the Lord: to see people be changed by this Gospel.

8/29/2019 -- Today was a good mix of useful and useless.

8/26
Well..P-day. What can I say? The most interesting thing is that we spend an hour looking for a barbershop where the owner was actually around. We visited roughly four of them where the owner wasn't around, but they had opened up the shop. I really don't get that by the way. Why open your shop if you're not gonna be around? What if people steal your things? What if people like us come along and want to give you money, but you're not around to take it? WHY?????

Anyway, I spoke too soon. We did have one more interesting thing happen. Census came by to count us today. It was really weird.

Also, when I finished calling my parents I went looking for E.Bamongo because he wanted a turn after me. I found him asleep on my bed and -after a moment of contemplation- decided to wake him. It was kinda funny.

8/27
Today was a good mix of useful and useless. Quite literally half/half. We had four appointments two were in English and two were in Swahili. We also had the Zone Leaders come by for flat checks. So today was all right. We got to meet with a RC who shared some interesting stuff with us about a dream he had that reminded him that this was the true church of Jesus Christ.

8/28
Well, today is another exchange. We've got Elder Kulondwa with us for the day; I have yet to formulate an opinion on him. Every time I lean toward a conclusion I back off. What I can say for certain: he still doesn't know English. That kinda hinders my ability to reach a decision.

We started the day off with DDM. Nothing much there. From there we went contacting in Lucky Summer 2's area. It went well enough, but I couldn't wait for it to end. After that we went to visit S.Niece, we ended the day getting rained on as we headed back to the flat. It wasn't bad, but I got mad because the rain stained my shirt. Took a few minutes to scrub all that out.

E.Bamongo and I had a long discussion on Missionaries and missionary work after that. It was nice to chat a little and swap some stories. It was nice.

8/29
Well, E.Kulondwa kinda gave me a wake-up call in regards to Chapate when he ordered ten of them, and ate seven in one sitting. I realized that I have a problem, and I saw the end of the road I was walking on. End Result: I'm cutting back on chapate.

Anyway, for today we spent a lot of time waiting. We got to see three people for all that waiting. That kinda sucks, but it's fine. My patience with waiting for appointments in infinite.

The Nairobi rainy season appears to have arrived as well! We have gotten rained on two days in a row. It's fine, but not fun. I liked Dar's rainy season more.

We also got to spend some time hanging out with Bradley today. It was too much fun talking with him - he even grabbed lunch with us.

8/25/2019 -- having your food stare at you is rather unpleasant!

8/22
Well, today was fun. I got to spend A LOT of time talking to E. Cole. We had service first thing in the morning, then we picked up E.Tshangu and gave back E.Smith to E. Segale. After that was lunch, and by this time it's already 3. So we headed back to the flat, dropped off E.Tshangu's overnight stuff and went to pick up Redick. After we picked up Redick we went to meet up with E.Cole and went to visit a member who lives on the extreme end of Lucky Summer. We had a really good visit, but the Mother of this little family did little to hide the fact that she was trying to kill us with food. I had 7 Chapate, 7! I won't be using the bathroom for a while! We were also home late because of how far away their home is, but that's a minor detail.

8/23
We killed Redick today. I dunno how long we contacted for certain, but it was a long stinking time. Redick certainly wasn't used to walking that much or talking to that many people. He made it very clear that he would be going to bed early tonight. I don't blame him.

Anyway, aside from contacting we got to teach Anthony's brother -Jack- who has accepted Baptism, but who will be leaving for boarding school next week. Side note: I've decided that boarding school may be the root of evil here in Kenya. These kids spend so long away from home it doesn't allow them to grow deep roots in the gospel. It really, really, really sucks.

Well, we had lunch after that, then more contacting, from there we spent a significant amount of time contacting. Watching Redick slowly die was funny. He made it easier by talking about how wiped he was, and it was only 2. Lol! He kinda reminds me of how E.Kulondwa was when he first started training. This newbie would pass the heck out at every opportunity; he's gotten a lot stronger as of late and it no longer happens, but still - it was funny.

Anyway, we taught a lesson with a Former Investigator (not sure what happened, signs point to not keeping commitments) that E.Johnson and E.Kanda were teaching. We'll see how he does.

We visited Bradley after that to see if he was doing better and ended up swapping war stories from our respective missions. It's always fun to hear people talk and chat about that kind of stuff.

We came back to the flat after that and my companions tried to kill me with Ugali. I ate too much, (I still don't like it) it sits like a rock in my belly, (I still don't like it) I had to eat it with dagaa, (I still don't like it) let me tell you, (I still don't like it) having your food stare at you is rather unpleasant! I STILL DON'T LIKE IT!!! Oh well, I'm used to it by now. Oh, by the by, dagaa is these tiny little fishies that you eat whole. The range from the size of two joints of my pinky finger, to the size of my thumbnail. You just pick up a little bundle of them with every bit of Ugali. Always pleasant when the heads fall off and you eat them separately.

It's a good thing you're not on this mission Mom, you wouldn't be able to handle all the fish here, and I haven't even had that much. If I want a lot of fish, I need to go to Mwanza or Kisumu. You don't get a lot here.

8/24
Seven Months!

Anyway, we went out to Mwiki today to visit Tracey, then came back for a meeting that was cancelled. That was it for today. It's currently past midnight because I was told that census takers would be coming today and that I was required to cooperate with them, so that's fun. I'm giving up BTW, I need sleep for tomorrow.

8/25
Well dang. There was no guarantee that they'd come yesterday. I was sleep-deprived for no reason. I only found out today.

Anyway, the Lord really blessed us today. Well, I feel less blessed, but the companionship was heavily blessed. Brother Joab came to church today, we taught him then he introduced us to his friends, six of them. That's a huge blessing, now the reason why I don't feel so blessed is because it's a Swahili only type situation. Oh well, it's an answer to prayers and we don't often get prayers answered in the way that we want.

Regardless, the lesson after that one was in Swahili too, then the last one was in English. I was very happy to help out in my own little way with the first and last lesson of today. It's nice to see things moving along at a good rate. It's late again, so I'm going to bed. Night.

8/21/2019 -- God suddenly blessed me with enough patience to be willing to greet some children

8/19
I had an interesting piece of revelation: think of pessimism like a sin. Look, the opposite of pride is humility. What is the opposite of Hope (one of the Christlike attributes)? Pessimism. It's not a sin like pride, but it certainly keeps us from something desirable.

8/20
Well..President Mdletshe was funny today. It was Zone Conference, and he just made it a lot of fun. He talked and joked with us, then gave fire in the next breath, then went back to talking and joking. It was great.

The best part? He never told me to stop talking. With President Msane I never got further than 15 to 20 minutes into any Zone Conference or Training without him saying "your mouth is now closed" or "threatening" (it wasn't really a threat) to say it.

The only issue that arose was the section of Zone Conference where I couldn't be actively involved - I slept through that one. I woke up again when it got back to being actively involved again. I had to set a low-key rule for myself as well: I can't comment twice in a row. I have to be fair, right?

(One of) My philosophy in life is to never speak unless I have something to say. The great thing about Zone Conference -or any discussion- is that it always gives me something to say. The trick is getting me to shut up. So, summary: Zone Conference is a fun, fun, fun playground for me.

After Zone Conference, we came back and did some contacting. Now, I don't remember where it came from, but God suddenly blessed me with enough patience to be willing to greet some children, I also reminded myself why I don't greet children. When I greeted one, and suddenly a group of 20 surrounded me. What do I do in this situation? I explained that I hated being called Mzungu, I taught them Rock Paper Scissor in Japanese and how to say "I am a Child of God" in Japanese. I tried to teach them how to sing I am a Child of God as well, but they were pretty sidetracked by the first two things by the time I tried that third one. This went on for a while, and I ended up contacting the whole bunch of kids. 20 contacted in less than half an hour. They borrowed my pen and started writing our phone number on their arms. When they were done they came to me to see if it was right. I'm still wondering if that was okay. Well, whatever.

All I know is that Zone Conference always relights the fire in me for the work, and that this fire won't last long. Don't get me wrong, I work. I will work to the end of my mission, but the difference is: once I have that fire, I have a passion for the work, not just understanding the importance.

Eh, it'll go out soon, but I'll try to keep it going as long as possible. That fire is the one that would (in other missions) give me the strength to keep knocking doors, even though it's 8:30. That kind of stuff.

Oh, by the by my Mission President may be getting rid of Home Safe, or changing it to later than it is now. President Mdletshe HATES how much time is wasted when we come back to the flat so early. I'm personally fine with the time we come back. When the sun starts to set I no longer feel safe. I do agree with the hatred of wasted time though. I firmly believe (that I've just decided to believe) that the Sisters should be home safe by seven instead of six.

8/21
Well, we had a very short day today. We had DDM, then we went to Githurai to contact with them. We also had exchanges, so E. Smith is hanging around with us today.

After we got back (with a very annoyed about being late E.Benson leading the group) we went directly to Anthony's place. Fortunately, we were only 15 minutes late. I thought we were later than that. At Anthony's place, we watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" It was good, but it was an hour-long. I was also really annoyed that I didn't get to hear "Praise to the Man" during the film. They completely had moments when they could have played it, but they didn't. Shame. I'm listening to it right now to console myself. Jk, it just happened to come up as I was writing.

After finishing the movie with Anthony we went to visit S. Sophie/Sophia (I swap between them - she has never told me which one is correct). She's a very nice lady, and I hope the message we brought today was helpful to her. We talked a little about the general conference talk "The Immediate Goodness of God" and answered some questions for her. We also committed her to read the Book of Mormon. She was very eager, she's the only person I've seen who uses a study journal while studying the Book of Mormon who isn't a missionary. It's really cool.

After that, we came back to the flat (with less than a minute to spare for home safe) and swapped stories. I did the evil known as laundry. E. Bamongo even told me as I was going to do it: "Stay Strong." He hates laundry more than I do, but that's because his old area is one of the few with access to a washing machine, so he's been spoiled for the first four months of his mission.

8/18/2019 -- I've developed this habit of bugging people half to death if I want something done.

8/16
Well, today was a..."singular" day. We had two activities planned today: A leadership meeting and a single Appointment. During planning last night I made the call to only schedule this one due to time. It seems like this was a good decision since the guy lives far. We're not sure whose area he's in. We didn't get to teach him, but we did introduce our message to him. We learned about this guy from a referral. Nice guy.

Anyway, nothing else today. The few things we had planned took so long that we couldn't do anything else.

8/17
We had "Mormon" Helping Hands today. (They still haven't told us of an alternative name) It went well, we were just cleaning up trash in an area called Githurai 45. It's where E.Sharp and E.Kasongo work, and their chapel will be built there in a few months. It was fun, I spent the time chatting with E.Cole as I picked up trash. No, the fun part wasn't picking up trash, it was blowing E.Cole's mind with some "Deep" Doctrine that I'd learned (ask my parents if you want an example of what I shared with him). It was just fun talking with him in general.

We came back to the chapel after that, had refreshments, then held the most productive correlation meeting I've ever seen or heard of.

This was the first correlation meeting I've attended that had the Ward Missionaries present. It made a huge difference. It makes me really sad that we'll have to be bugging the Ward to call more Ward Missionaries in three months when all the current ones have left on their missions, but I don't know if I'll be around for that headache, so it's fine. The other Elders can suffer in a few months.

Oh yeah, there was a funny moment today when Eugene pointed at E.Cole and told him to learn from me. I've developed this habit of bugging people half to death if I want something done. It works really well on Kenyans. Eugene told E.Cole to follow that example. I'm over here thinking something along these lines: "Okay, cool. I'm an example now. I'm just doing what works." That was a really humble paraphrase of what I was thinking. It was probably more along the lines of: "Boo-yah! Fear me you foolish mortals and follow the great example set by the wise and all powerful ME..." Okay, jokes aside I was really happy at that moment.

It was a fun day, but not much was done as far as appointments. We just visited Bradley to check in on him.

8/18
Maa, kyou wa osoi desu yo. We had services then we just kinda...didn't have any meetings. It was a weird feeling. We were expecting to be needed for something after church, but it didn't happen. Eventually, we left with a member in tow: B. Kelvin.

We contacted a guy as we were walking and...I'm not even sure what happened. Was it a Bible Bash? E.Tsangu didn't think so, but I lost the spirit, so it felt like one. The guy kept demanding us to show him in the bible where it says "this" or "that" and we did. E.Tsangu knows the New Testament like nobody's business. I kinda saw where things were going at one point and had Hebrews 1:1-4 already pulled up as E.Tsangu brought it up with this guy. He didn't really get it. When I challenged him to show us in the bible where the things he was saying were (turn-about's fair play) he just kinda ignored me - even when my companions echoed me.

Eventually, a combination of the lack of the spirit and a feeling of wasting time led me to try and end the debate. I put my hand on this guy's shoulder and tried to get his attention. He ignored me. I must've called his name six or seven times. Eventually I just asked: "Are you ignoring me?" Without batting an eye he says something to the effect of "I'm still talking, when I'm done I'll listen to you." Well, it took both of my companions asking him to listen to me for him to finally shut it and hear what I had to say. I told him bluntly that I refused to fight. I will not fight to try and convince someone. I've gain wisdom from my previous bible bashes, it's only a waste of time trying to convince someone who has closed their heart. After all, it's my duty to "find those that'll receive [me]" not try and force people to believe. You gain nothing if you try to do that.

Anyway, I told this guy that I wasn't gonna fight with him, that we would be happy to speak to him if he wanted to learn and understand more, and that it was all up to him what would happen.

That pretty much put an end to the conversation. He tried to restart the "discussion" (see "low-key argument" pg.98) but my comps picked up on more or less the same feelings I had, and they supported what I said to put an end to our time with this man. Oh yeah, E.Tsangu was laughing and smiling the whole time, just a fun little tidbit. He did that to keep it from turning into a real bible bash.

We went to see the kids Steve and Vivian after that. The lesson was in Swahili again, so all I know is that I wanted the kid sitting on the couch next to me (one of their friends) to stop shaking the couch. The thing rocked like a boat on the ocean with every motion, and this kid liked to fidget. It was particularly annoying.

We visited S.Linda after that and Discussed chapter 3 of 1 Nephi (which she read on her own, hurray!!!). Everything went well, and her eldest daughter has really started warming up to me. This 3 year old girl has abruptly found the pleasure of hugging my knees. I don't know why, or where this came from, but it's easier for me to be patient with her than the street kids.

8/15/2019 -- I was not having fun after that. It looked like I wet my pants

8/12
It was P-Day, what do you expect?

8/13
Dang ITTTTTTT!!!!

Okay, it's a good dang it, but it's still a dang it! I just found out where E.Bailey is and I shot him an SMS: "What happened with Ernest, did he get Baptized?" The response I got was: "Yeah man he did" (had to control myself to keep from adding punctuation).

I honestly feel happy and excited, but I also have a sense of..."all according to plan" if I can explain it. I'm just sad I wasn't there for it, or the one to baptize him, but whatever, it's fine.

He was one of the ones I was proud to teach because I got to watch him change. When I compare the Ernest I met to the one I left...well, the Atonement was certainly active in his life. I was rather proud of the guy, he was sad to see me go.

Anyway, today was a hard day. We had A LOT of lessons...in Swahili. I just stopped listening and checked out. I was involved and paying attention for two of the lessons, but still didn't get to say much (the two English speaking lessons). In one I challenged Anthony to read the Book of Mormon before the year ended, the other I just added a little to the lesson.

It was still a good day, we gave B.Wycliffe a Baptismal Date during the second lesson in English. He'd received confirmation that what we were sharing with him was true, so E.Tsangu just went ahead and extended one to him. It was a good lesson. If he starts coming to church he'll make it. If not? Well, it's obvious.

Anyway, I had a funny moment at the flat. E.Tsangu and E.Bamongo were doing Language study when E.Tsangu suddenly calls me in. He's tells me to say the words he spells out for me, then spells this: P-E-N. I responded "pen" easy. He then spells: P-A-I-N. I of course respond, then he spells: P-A-N. After I respond he turns to E.Bamongo and says: "Hear the difference?" I just kinda walked away after that. Apparently, my accent and pronunciation is sometimes useful. I dunno, I thought it was kinda funny. Not bust-a-gut hilarious, but amusing.

8/14
Well, today was slow. We had DDM first thing then we went to see a less active sister, but she bounced. Then we went to see Sister Niece. We talked to her about Family History and Temples, and E.Tsangu showed some church videos about the topic. My contribution was the closing prayer.

We then went to visit another member - just so E.Tsangu could know who the EQ President's wife is, but she got stuck in traffic so we didn't get to see her. It was a long-slow day.

8/15
Well, today was a "fun" day. We were told last night that a meeting at Buruburu -one we had been planning for for a few days- was rescheduled and those invited to attend had been changed. So my morning was suddenly rather open. We ended up doing Weekly Planning, then we went to work.

We visited Anthony and talked about the Word of Wisdom again, then headed to lunch. While I was eating my usual bowl of rice and beans someone walking by bumped the newspaper I was reading, and sent my meal right into my lap...I was not having fun after that. It looked like I wet my pants because of the soup the rice and beans were in. I cleaned up as best I could, but I couldn't do everything. I just ended up dumping most of it on the floor. *sigh* not my finest hour.

We went to see B.Wycliffe after that, but he wasn't around - his friend David was, but he ran out to get eggs. He took longer than an hour to get them, so I assume he was avoiding us. We ended up leaving and went to see the two kids: Steve and Vivian again. I still have no idea what was taught, but I assume it went well.

We went over to see Bradley's sister "Rita" after that and we found her friend Vivian there as well. We took the opportunity to teach Vivian the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel I can safely say that this was our best lesson this transfer, we were the most harmonious and united we've ever been, so that was nice.

After that we got back to the flat, planned, had dinner, then I called home for my parent's Anniversary. I confused my companions because "Anniversary" in French means Birthday.

8/11/2019 -- It low-key felt like giving fire.

8/9
Hahahahaha!!! I've gotten a white board marker!!! Well, two, but whatever. Anyway, I've finally been able to use the whiteboard. It didn't take me long to fill it chock full of info - with included space for doodles of course. I'm including a photo - I hope I remember to send them this time.

Well, today was an...empty...day...*sigh*. We got up super early to go to immigration so that a cop would be able to stop us without arresting E.Bamongo, and of course E.Tsangu and I by extension. He was just getting finger-printed so that the mission could finally submit the paperwork for his Alien Card. It'll probably take him a month to get it. Regardless, we hit up a Tuskeys (like Walmart) right after that. That's where I got my whiteboard markers. They were pretty expensive 85 Bob each! Geh! I have to absorb that cost too, bleh! Oh well, I might just take these markers with me when I go, just so I can get my money's worth.

Anyway, we got to teach a few lessons. One was with a pair of Investigators: David and Wycliffe. I can potentially see Wycliffe progressing (he needs to start coming to church), but something needs to change if David is gonna progress. I'm not sure what. Fun.

We visited a member named Docila after that. I've mentioned her before (I think). We just talked to her today about the temple. It low-key felt like giving fire. "Start preparing for the temple now" kinda thing. It went all right, but we'll see if it goes anywhere.

I also became the trash can tonight. E.Bamongo let me down: he's usually our trash can, but I had to help him out this time. It makes no sense to me since I have the smallest stomach and appetite of pretty much every missionary I've met (certainly of the ones I've shared a meal with) and I should never play the role of the trash can, but I did. I'm also dying right now if you're curious - too much food.

8/10
Well, today was a nice day. We were bounced twice, but it's no biggie. The fact that we were able to get so much else done made it worth it.

First up: we got to meet with a friend of B. Anthony's: Jack. We taught him for the first time a few days ago and he was willing to meet with us again. He even brought his friend with him to the lesson.

We also met with B. Brian. He's someone who could be powerful and could start progressing, he just needs to come to church. He came once, but neither E.Kanda or I saw him that time he came. He hasn't come since then, and he told us that he won't be coming tomorrow because he needs to attend "his church." We low-key gave him fire. It was really gentle fire. We just shared the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. I've discovered that I really like using this one to teach. Kinda drives home the point in a blunt way. Really fun for me.

Our last appointment of the day was with the two kids: Steve and Vivian. The entire lesson was in Swahili, so I zoned out. It was funny seeing these two kids asking us to come by everyday this week because they want the lessons to end as soon as possible. I was able to catch that much from all the Swahili. I found it funny. Still do.

8/11
Too. Much. Waiting... I was able to finish: 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and almost finished 2 Chronicles today. We had to wait for a bunch of meetings and stuff to finish after church ended. We taught B.Joab (powerful, this guy), then we just sat around, waiting. I just read the Bible to kill time. After the (long) waiting period ended we went to visit Steve and Vivian with Bradley in tow.

I still have no idea what was taught, I just sat there looking pretty while E.Tsangu and Bradley (the new first counselor of EQ) taught the lesson.

We headed over to S.Linda's after that, we just read the Book of Mormon with her and her husband.

After that we headed over to S.Niece's place where E.Tsangu helped her start filling out her "My Family" pamphlet. We had to rush out to make home safe after that.

8/8/2019 -- I felt very strongly about one appointment to see a less active member

8/5
Well, today was interesting. Despite the fact that there are three of us, it took longer than usual to finish. We did some errands, then cybered. Not that different from most P-Days.
Well, there is one thing. There are a bunch of dogs here, right? They all start barking at night. One of them sounds like my dog: Mallory. It kinda hurts. A lot.

8/7
I had a last night last night (and tonight) so I didn't update. I was trying to get permission from President Mdletshe to do a "Comp Split." It's pretty much a way for missionaries to split up and cover more ground when they have too many appointments to handle on their own. Each comp goes and works with a "responsible ward member of their own sex" to teach lessons. Well, President was in South Africa, and he didn't call me till 10:28 soooooooo... yeah, it was a late night for me. He also said "nay" which was hard for me to hear since I felt very strongly about one appointment to see a less active member, and couldn't convince E.Tsangu to go for that one instead. I had to arrange for two members to perform a ministering visit instead. I felt really guilty doing it since I was bugging these two members: Bradley and Eugene.

What made my guilt all the worse was that we were bounced and suddenly able to go to the less active appointment that I set up, but my voice is only one among three, so we ended up wasting time visiting Bradley's sister. Well, it felt like a waste of time to me, but that might just be because I felt bitter. I also felt mortified thinking about Bradley coming back from the ministering appointment to find out that the missionaries had visited his home without an appointment when they could have come. It sickens me now. I need to follow up tomorrow morning to apologize. I spent too long building trust and respect with these two for it to be destroyed like this.

Anyway, yesterday wasn't that interesting. We had a few good appointments and got bounced a few times (Tuesday is bounce day after all). We ended up getting rained on as we headed back to the flat.
Oh yeah, here's something funny: I casually commented that since people like bouncing so much we should call them Tigger. I think it's funny, and a good nickname, but it's been a while since I've been able to trigger a cringe shiver in E.Cole, it was funny - almost like a full body convulsion of cringe.

8/8
We had service today, it took most of the day. I spent my time chatting with E. Cole. We got back at
2:40. We were super late.

We had to apologize to a Brother named Kelvin who we'll be working with once a week from now, till he leaves on his mission. He's a good guy, and a teacher - literally, he's a school teacher. We went and visited a member with him since the Less Active member we wanted to see never responded to my calls or texts. We spent a while there talking and chatting, then we went to see Sister Linda.

We started reading the Book of Mormon with her. It was funny - she kept telling us that she was having a hard time understanding it, but when we read it with her she said it was simple. The English may be hard, but it was easy for her to understand.

I just pointed out to her that the biggest difference was that we had the spirit at that time. We can't understand the scriptures, not even a little, without God giving us that understanding. It's also my experience that he's not willing to give us ANY understanding unless we're reading with true intent.