July 24, 2011

The power is out here in Nairobi. We are having a huge rain storm. It is good because now I can sit down and write about our day going to Llima. It’s long but for many I think you will find it interesting.

July 24, 2011

The day started very early as President Broadbent and wife were picking us up at 6:30 to travel to Llima Branch Conference. We traveled out of Nairobi on Mombasa Road which is a two lane road that large cargo trucks travel bringing there goods to and from. The trucks move very slow and almost block the road. It is very dangerous to go around them. Drivers go very fast. The road is paved off and on and it is busy. The travel is very desert like and yet there would be little dukas (stores) that would group together as you went along. We passed a large steel mill, cement company and new housing being built. Next to it would be people living in terrible living conditions (the slums are worse). We saw some zebra and a beautiful rising sun that was blood red. After traveling for 1 ½ hours we turned off to Kalunga Hills.

Kymbeke Branch President

Kyambeke church house Kyambeke children

Future missionaries Childs toy made out of a jug

We stopped at the Mititzi and the Kyambeke branches to meet their branch president before heading up to Llima. We traveled on very bad dirt and rock roads for almost an hour.

Lima

The hills are beautiful. The members live in stone brick houses that they make and if you have a metal roof you are very fortunate. Most roofs are made from plants and greens. The hills are terraced deep into the hills and the little homes are on the edge of the dig. They plant their crops and walk along the digs. The hills are high, green and steep, forming beautiful narrow valleys. The trial really begins as you continue up to Llima. The road is like a trail that you would ride horseback in the Uintahs, very steep and windy. I couldn’t believe how high we went. Once at the church, we visited the out-house with a hole in the floor. It was an experience. The people are so kind, very excited to see us all but very shy and won’t talk just smile. They are dressed in layers of clothing

Lima Sisters

totally random. Their hair is very short or bald. Many have scarves or hats on. Llima is covered with red dirt/sand and your car shoes and clothes are covered when you leave, thus the children are usually barefoot or have plastic sandals. The children are so sweet and you just want to get them in a tub and scrub them up. I ask Elder Naven who sat by me in sacrament meeting if it would be offensive if I wiped this little boys nose. He said oh he will wipe it with his shirt sooner or later. One little boy had a pair of zip up pajamas cut of to the mid-calf and that is what he wore to church.

Many of the member walk with their children for three hours before getting to church. They sacrifice a lot to come. There were 240 there and it was very crowded. Sister Broadbent played the battery-ran piano but they kind of have their own melody they sing with the hymns. It’s funny to hear them. The men usually do not sit with their families. This is something the President is trying to change. Women are not valued. The church is cinderblock with a main room and then 2 larger rooms for YW and Relief Society. They sit on black plastic chairs but all the children sit on small colored plastic lawn chairs. When Sacrament meeting is over they all stand and put their chair over their heads and walk down to primary (down the hill a ways in an old building).

Children take care of the babies and little ones. They are very nurturing. If a baby cries they hand it to the mom and she will nurse the baby (sacrament meeting, primary, anywhere) and hand the baby back to the older child. Very tender. It was amazing to see how quiet the little one’s sit in primary. The Primary president will say something then say “Repeat” and they do. It’s like robot teaching. She then sings five words of a song and says Sing and they sing the whole song. That is how they are taught in school, if their parents can afford to send them. I also got to go to YW. They were so fun and they were shy. When asked questions about the lesson they answered with very sincere statements. They all are excited about the Temple. I didn’t go to Relief Society. Sister Elizabeth is the President. She has formed a co-op with the sisters to make beads out of magazine strips dipped in lacquer and they make these great beaded necklaces. They now have a source that wants to sell the necklaces in London.

Leaving the Lima branch

Getting ready to leave the Lima church

The children running after us

When church was over we traveled back to Kyambeke with the Elders and had lunch at their flat. Sister Broadbent and Sister Nevin brought sandwiches and fruit with banana bread. It was so simple but so very good. We were all hungry.

View of Kyambeke Chapel from the missionaries flat

Missionaries Dad and I by their clothes line

After stopping to leave food for the Elders in Mitini we continued on our way back to the scary Mombasa Road. It was hard to try and be calm. The drive is really nerve-racking and Dad drove all the way back. There is so much pressure from other drivers to pass and move. One time a small bus got frustrated and totally passed us on the other side and continued driving passing a huge truck and a car. Everyone honks and blinks theirs lights. Elder Nevin says that it is ok to call them idiots. When we finally arrived back to our flat, 13 hours later, Elder Nevin shouted out “We cheated death another day”

Dad and I have to repeat that same drive 5 hours 5 times a week. I don’t know how we will do it but I just keep saying “The Lord gives no challenge that we can’t over-come”. It’s so bumpy I told dad to pretend we were riding in a covered wagon everyday like the pioneers. We are amazed that the mission doesn’t go through more vehicles and even more tires.

Anyway we do need your prayers... for us and our vehicles.