Elder Nyambita (from Tanzania) and Elder Thomas

Daniel's first area:  Rongai

Daniel at the airport- this was for Joe, haha!

1st Area in Kenya- Langata Zone, Rongai

Hello from KENYA!!!

Ha i finally made it! its crazy to think that i am finally here. And mom sorry that i wasn't able to call back from the airport, the phones were not working but it was good to talk!

On Tuesday we left J-Burg right after we went to the Temple. It was nice to go to the temple one last time before not seeing one for 2 years ha. At the airport,me and 5 other elders who were also going to Kenya, had to wait at the airport for 7 hours... ha our flight wasn't until midnight. But the flight went all good and we arrived safely. The only problem we had at the Kenya Airport was that the security there would not let 3 of our elders leave (I guess because they were from South Africa and their visas were messed up.) But after and hour they let them through. We then got to meet President and Sister Broadbent!!! They are such awesome people. They also came with the AP's who are really cool and they drove us back to the mission office. But the first thing i saw right as soon as we got out of the airport parking lot was a bunch of ZEBRAS!! haha but those have been the only animals I've seen so far.

Once at the mission office we talked to president and filled out some stuff, and were then taken to the AP"s flat (in Kenya they call apartments flats). So we chilled there for a while and rested, and then went to the Mission home for dinner. It was nice being able to spend some time with pres and sister Broadbent, they made us feel at home. But after dinner, we got to find out our areas and trainers. So i will be in the Rongai area! (pronounced ron-guy). And my trainer is Elder Nyambita, from Tanzania. He is awesome! He has been out on his mission for 3 months and is already training. so im glad to have him.

My area is pretty big. we either take a mapatu (a ghetto pimped out toyota bus thing) or we walk to get around. We walk so much it is crazy!! Ha my area is like New York City combined with the indian reservation...haha but its great! there are soooo many people on the streets its crazy. But i love it and people seem to be pretty receptive to us missionaries.

And my flat (apartment) is pretty good. it has running water and electricity. but sometimes the electricity goes out... hahah its funny. And we have to hand wash our clothes, which is really easy to do so its no big deal.

And the food here is pretty good. Its a lot of rice, beans, chicken and fruits. My comp made chipati (like a tortilla thing) and its super good i love it!! but i haven't had anything crazy to eat yet haha. But i usually eat a lot of bread and peanut butter haha its good.

Oh and funny story today! we were going to the mission office today to go pick up some suplies and guess who i saw... Sister Mackenzie!! hahah soo crazy to see her. She was at the distribution center getting stuff and i ran into her. ha it was weird seeing her not as a missionary! but she wanted your phone number so i gave it to her. i don't know if she will call you or something but it was good to see a familiar face.

But its good to hear that everyone is doing good. I love hearing about everyone and all that they are doing. oh and a lot of people here wear soccer jerseys and a lot of them are Barca ones! ha it reminds me of Emmy. and glad Joe is staying busy with sports and josh haha. Hailey ap psych will be good for you, its interesting. And tell Dad thanks for those talks and papers he gave me, they have helped a lot. And mom you are awesome i love you soooo much thanks for all the updates and support!! Love you all sooo much! and be grateful for all you have. And sorry but next week i wont be able to write, we are not allowed to go outside on Monday because next week is elections. so Monday will be the only day and then we will resume with missionary stuff.

LOVE ELDER THOMAS

Daniel's Mission President sent us an email saying that Daniel would be labouring in the Langata Zone with an excellent trainer- Elder Nyambita.  We hope to hear more from Daniel next pday!

Daniel is in Kenya!

Dear Family of Elder Daniel Elijah Thomas,

We wanted you to know that Elder Thomas arrived safely early this morning from the South Africa MTC. There were six missionaries who travelled together and other than being very tired, they look great! Attached is a letter from President Broadbent and a picture of Elder Thomas with President and Sister Broadbent.

Thank you for preparing your son to serve a mission. We look forward to serving with him and we know he is going to love the Kenya Nairobi Mission.

With Regards,

Sister Olsen

Mission Secretary

The MTC Choir

All the missionaries and the MTC President at the South Africa MTC.  They sang for 3 wards on Sunday.

1st Letter

Hey everyone! haha hello from the S Africa MTC! It is a lot of fun here and everyone is super nice. But yeah the MTC looks kind of like the pictures on the lds.org website, but a little smaller than i thought. But yeah we have 22 missionaries in here right now and its nice because we get to know everyone pretty good. And i don't feel like its that humid, but it is very pretty here. And yes i can can understand everyone here, but it's cool because everyone has different accents so its fun to listen to everyone.

But the MTC is great, although it has showed me that missionary work is not going to be easy! ha we are mostly learning how to teach people right now, which is not an easy thing to do. but eventually I'll become better at it and it will be all good. But here in the MTC we have two districts, the Moroni and Helaman districts. And I am the Zone leader and District leader for the Helaman district! haha we just conduct meetings and help the president with stuff around the MTC. President Reber and his wife are so awesome. they are great people and are always helping us out. Its nice because they also take the time to get to know us.

My companion here is Elder Nyanhamo! (pronounced like this: ya-nah-mo). he is 21 years old and is from Zimbabwe. He is going to the Australia Melborne mission. the reason why he is in this mtc is because his visa got denied to New Zealand (where the closes mtc is to his mission) so he came here. He is such a great comp and i am so glad to have him. I feel like all of the African Elders here have such a great spirit and their testimonies are awesome! The African elders are soo funny! they love to laugh and it makes things in the mtc a lot better.

One of the Best things about the mtc is sports time! here we have a bball court and a sand volley ball pit. the first day we played bball and it was fun. it was funny to watch the African elders play because most of them have never played before. i was laughing most of the time! The second day we played soccer! ha the African elders are soooo good. they were making crazy passes to each other and i thought that i was playing against Messi or something! ha it was good tho.

Right now most of the missionaries here are either going to the Zimbabwe, Kenya, Or Cape town mission, I think they group it like that on purpose. But i love it here and its great. Although every once in a while we get some strange food to eat... hahah its ok tho i still eat it, like jemsquash.

But i love you guys soo much. thanks for your prayers and i really miss you guys. glad to hear everyone is doing good! let me know where josh is going! and tell nate that the mtc here is good and to look out for elder Marz when in Zimbabwe. Sorry i don't have a lot of time and i wont be able to upload pictures until i am in Kenya. and we are only going to be able to go the the Temple once while here ( closed for cleaning) but at least i get to go. I love you all sooo much! make sure to read your scriptures. And thanks for the Package and letter!!!! so nice of you all! love you

Elder Thomas

Daniel made it to Africa!

Hey i made it hear finally! ha its crazy cuz I've been on a plane for a total of 24 hours, so that was horrible. but after i got done talking to you on the phone i met up with 5 other missionaries and we all flew together to Joe-Burg. once we got there we found the guy picking us up from the airport and he was with three other elders who had already got there before us. after that we had to wait ten mins for the last elder to get there. on Saturday ill send you a picture of all of us. then we drove to the MTC which took 30 mins. once we got there we got settled in and we had lunch, hamburgers which were good. and right now there are only 23 elders at this mtc hahah. everyone here is super nice so that helps. in my room i have 2 other Elders who are both from Africa, one from Uganda and one from Zimbabwe, and ill email you their names next time because I'm not quite sure how to say/spell their names haha. but today they are keeping us up all day so that we get used to the time change. but i already know that i am going to love it here! ill write you more Saturday when i have more time but i just wanted to let you know that i got here safely. love you!!

Elder Thomas

A letter from Ben to Dan

Ciao!!!!

Wow so much has happened this week and it sounds like so much is happening at home!! This week it's been pretty funny. I've been looking at the calender a lot and thinking how Daniel is finally leaving for his mission. Haha I can't believe it! It's so weird like it seems like I was in Bergamo with Anziano Treadway when I found out he was going to Kenya!! I just can't say how happy I am and how weird it was to see the photos of him leaving from the Airport!! I remember being pretty nervous leaving from the MTC in Utah I can't even imagine going by myself to South Africa!! So weird.. But I'll know he'll do great because one he has such a strong testimony and two I've taught him well ha! Still can't get over it but I know he'll have such great experiences because I know that missions bring these experiences that will last us for eternity. Get them Daniel!!

THE AIRPORT!

Elder Thomas leaving Phoenix

Thomas Family saying goodbye to Daniel at the Sky Harbor airport

Daniel's Last Sunday with the Family!

Thomas Family 

Elder Thomas, Joseph, & Spencer