HAPPY B-DAY BENNY!! the big man is getting bigger.... 22 years of greatness.... something like that hahah. But hope you have a great day!
Sooo... this past week was not the best, but it was still ok.
Tuesday and Wednesday were taken up by driving all over Nairobi.... taking some missionaries to the doctor and different places. The only bright side of driving so much is that i'm getting better at it...
Thursday we had a really nice day planed out. Lots of appointments and people to meet with. Unfortunately.... almost all of our appointments got bounced. We were able to find one new investigator, David. He tried to find the church last week but got lost, but this week he got our number and called us and we scheduled an appointment. He is a nice guy, doesn't speak a lick of English though so Elder Nyambita did most of the talking. I could understand just about everything said... but not quite able to give much input in swahili. But its ok, he came to church though to see conference! It was in English so i don't know if he understood anything.... he stayed for both sessions though so maybe he felt the spirit. Ok, i should say he DID feel the spirit. Its hard not to feel the spirit watching conference!
Also this week we were not able to meet with any of our investigators with a baptismal date. Almost all of them had some weird miss-happening or something going on preventing them to meet with us or come to church. I was really unfortunate. We will have to move some of their bapt dates back... we hope to have some baptisms for Kevin, Jackson, and Nifred the second or third week of November if all goes well and if we are able to help them get back on track. But its no rush... cant rush conversion. We also have an investigator named Gerrald. He is a powerful guy. He has a great understanding of the gospel and is really progressing well. He is definitely ready of baptism... but the only problem is he wants to be baptized with his family. Don't get me wrong that is FANTASTIC, but the problem is his family lives in a place called Kyambeke, and there are missionaries there.... but his family lives an hour and a half away walking (there are no matatus or buses that side) from the church. So its difficult for them to come.... and the missionaries there are not able to meet with them unless they come to the church. So it could take a long time for them to be ready for baptism. But Gerrald is set being baptized with them... so it might take a LONG time.... possible until next year... but we talked to him about it and that was his decision. So we will still be working with him.
Saturday was really nice! We were able to do some baptismal interviews in Westlands for the Elders there... which went very well. Then we got to watch some of the conference. Unfortunately, we missed the Saturday morning session because of the interviews, but the afternoon session was POWERFUL! I especially liked Elder Oaks, Anderson, and Callisters talks. Then the Hickens invited us to go to dinner with them, to Spur.... its super super nice. I got RIBS.... im pretty sure this is the only place in kenya you can get ribs... haha it was sooo nice.
Sunday, more general conference!! I love conference so much. I feel bad because back home, to be honest, i could really care less for it. But now that i really understand how much of a blessing it is to hear the words of the prophet and the apostles, ohhh man its a treat! What they speak is really what the Lord wants us to hear. D&C 1:37-38. I think that Elder Scotts talk was my favorite... about the 4 Tools that lead us to a happier and more prepared life. All 4 were small and simple things, daily prayer, scripture study, weekly FHE, and going to the temple often. But like it says in Alma 37:6-7 ''by small and simple things are great things brought to pass''. I have learned that to be very true on my mission. The small things make all the difference in who we are. After watching conference, we went to Sister Gathaya's home. She is a really really strong member of the church who's husband died a few years back, and now she is taking care of her little 6 yr old boy, and provides by making food on the street. So she was really happy to have us over and we enjoyed being with her. We also had one of our Ward missionaries with us, Emmanuel, who will also be serving in this mission in 2 months!!! so its cool to be with him.
But things are going well. I love my mission and love being here in Kenya!!! Have a good week and know that i love you all!
Elder Thomas
No comments:
Post a Comment