Dear Family and Friends,
We returned home from Kenya after being there for 5 days and bone tired. Elder Taylor was on assignment to perform a "Forensic Audit" to determine if funds of the Church were missing.
The outcome was unfortunate, thank goodness for the gift of repentance.
It's difficult to know where to begin describing our trip, I guess at the beginning is best.
Our plane ride was 5 hrs. long from Johannesburg to Nairobi Kenya. We were met at the airport by a former missionary that we knew from our Mission Office assignment in 2003. His name is Elder Isaac Nato, we had a nice reunion with him. He was our driver to the hotel and was very attentive and helpful on the ride. I must say here that the Kenyans are very hospitable people, they are friendly and congenial. Oft times they don't speak English, but then we Americans assume that everyone should be able to understand us. Although we don't subscribe to that sentiment we have found that a genuine smile can go a long way.
We stayed overnight in Nairobi and rested up for our journey the following day to our final destination in the Chyulu mountains. There is no way to adequately tell you how scary the drivers in Kenya are. They don't obey traffic lights, red doesn't mean stop all colors mean go. They don't observe right-aways and heaven forbid staying in your own lane is only a suggestion. It was a circus, but in some strange controlled way. If you have ever seen pictures of drivers in India, that is the same way they drive in Kenya. Susan Buffington told us once how bad the roads were in Kenya but she didn't prepare us for what it was really like. It was kind of like taking a car up American Fork Canyon and riding over boulders, no joke at least that bad. We were wishing we had our big truck for the trip, we were in a small 4 passenger truck which didn't help much. Our drivers name was Bishop Jadmaire Ndivo, he works for the Church and his duties include 5 African countries, he is definitely a "traveling man". He is a great man and we just loved spending time with him, he traveled with us for the full 5 days and we felt like we were leaving a dear friend when we parted.
It took us 5 hrs. to reach the Chyulu Hills from Nairobi, it was a very interesting ride we went through many small towns with few vehicles but there were lots of cattle and goats and people walking along the road. From beautiful rolling terraced hills to Savannah country. Finally we turned off the "main road" onto a dirt road to head to where our meeting was to be held. We had been told that there were 3 chapels in this vicinity with ten branches. It was definitely bush country with little villages dotting the way. The red clay dust on the dirt road was at least 6 inches deep and every time we passed a walker or bike rider they got covered with the red dust, I felt so sorry for them. I kept saying go slower, but there was no way to stop the dust from swirling around them, no matter how slowly we traveled. It was interesting to see the mud and grass huts with people sitting outside of them just chatting with friends and family just enjoying the beautiful day it was right out of National Geographic.
Finally after traveling for 1 hour, out of no where there was this beautiful big white church building right in the middle of the bush, it was a shock. We thought we were going to some small chapel but no a great big building and another shock was to hear that they had 2 other one's just like this one further back in the jungle. Evidently they are pre-fab, manufactured in Johannesburg and were sent up there in pieces. The picture of the chapel in the Congo that is on our blog is similar to the pre-fab building that was built in Chyulu. The tribes in the villages around there call our Church the "More-Money Church". If you don't learn anything else on a mission you can't help saying to yourself, why me Lord, why am I so blessed, what more can I do to help others lives be better and happier. It's a blessing to know that the gospel does bring joy to them, it does bring peace, not as the world knows it but as the Lord knows it. All the missionaries after serving in Africa go home and leave these parting words, "we will never be the same". That is the hope that we all have after working here that, we too will never be the same.
Our training was very well attended but the ensuing audits were a disappointment to us. We hate to see anyone step from the path that will lead them to their Heavenly Home. We loved the people in the Branches and had a lovely visit with them on Friday and Sunday. Dad and I ended up being their speakers on Sunday, they said it was "tradition" to have the guests be the Sacrament speakers. There were, in this small Branch, 38 adults and 48 children. Children are their greatest joy and blessing in these small villages. As usual the children and the members were delightful and we couldn't take our eyes off them. Children whether in Kenya, South Africa, USA, or anywhere else in the world are the same, gentle, sweet and loving, that is why the Savior gave them special blessings as recorded in Nephi.
Saturday, Bob did his Audits and since that was a Priesthood matter I stayed at the Game Lodge. In the Chyulu area there are no hotels so you must stay in one of the game reserves, I know hazard duty. (smile) Since the warring in Kenya the tourist business has suffered terribly and they love having Mormon Missionaries come, they say we are all so nice and friendly.
I stayed the day just resting and relaxing and enjoying the view while Bob worked. The Resort had about 30 guests at that time. Now this isn't like Kruger Park where the game reserve is fenced off from the outlying community and the guests are fenced in so the animals are out there and the guests are in there. In these three game parks there are no fences separating the guest from the animals. From the large dining room all the tables have a view of the watering holes where the herds of animals come to drink. Also off our room we had a balcony over looking the water holes where we could sit in the early morning and watch the herds of over 200 water buffalo come to get water. We saw herds of zebra, herds of elephant, large groups of giraffes, pack of wild dogs two dozen hippos in hippo ponds, storks, etc. it was a fun adventure------I should answer this question right now----yes we do work, this is only a perk. After such a lovely week we finally had to head back to Johannesburg but first we had to travel 5 hrs. on the terrible roads to get to Nairobi, it was as bad going back as it was going up the mountain. But we made it safely but were sore and tired from the drive, we stayed overnight in Nairobi and left for home in the afternoon.
