Sorry I haven’t posted for awhile….
It was wonderful talking with Tyler on Mothers day and he sounded GREAT!! He loves the area he is in right now –
Kitale. He mentioned how beautiful the
area is…very green and lush which is probably because of all the rain that he
says pours down in torrents. He is
shocked at how fast the time has flown by and that he has almost been serving
one year. WOW!!
I wanted to post a couple of stories from the Hartman’s who
visited the Kenya
mission last month…. They serve in East Africa
as psychologists. They had some
wonderful experiences which reflect the Lord’s work in Kenya.
“The first was with a new missionary who had only been
serving in the field for 2 days – fresh from the MTC. He is a big strapping young man from South Africa
who looks like he could take on the world.
It was his very FIRST day of contacting which came the day after our
time together at zone conference. He and
his companion were out walking together – they walked past the Eldoret prison
just as the guards began lowering the flag – which meant everyone passing with
in the area had to stop and not move. The guards blew a whistle just after they
passed and yelled in Swahili – a language neither of them spoke – so they just
kept walking. Finally after walking
about 20 yards a woman they walked past told them to stop and told them the
guards were yelling and whistling at them to stop!
They were thrown in prison for just under an hour and
emotionally battered. They were called
traitors, trash, despicable human beings, unworthy to walk the streets of Kenya, etc.
etc. etc. The senior companion tried to
explain they were not Kenyans and didn’t speak the language the guards were
speaking – but the hostility increased such that when they finally let them go the
young elder (remember this is his second day) said, “I must be transferred!!
Now!! I am too scared to be here any
longer. I can’t do this!!” He called the President who was with us so
the President asked if Taylor
would talk to him. He was really shook up badly – scared to death! We had spoken on Love versus Fear. – and how
being proactive instead of reactive – Taylor talked to him – telling him he had
to go back to the prison and apologize and mend feelings – practice the very
thing we had taught about – love vs fear.
The Elder assured him he had NO intention of going anywhere near that
prison again! Taylor and the President
tried to calm him down and then suggested he pray about it with his companion –
telling him he would call the next day and check on how he was doing.
Long story short, this young man told Taylor the next day that he had come to
realize that his Heavenly Father had given him a challenge to stand as a
disciple of Christ – so he went back to the prison the next morning with his companion
– and HE even did the talking! They met with
the head guard and not only did they apologize and smooth over relations – but
the head guard was so impressed by their humility that he asked them if they
would be willing to come back and TEACH in inmates and the guards in the
prison! They needed permission from the
president to teach at the prison. As he handed the phone to the President, he
said, “You are not going to believe this one!!”
We all had goosebumps! Of course
he granted them permission and we all felt like we were living in the day of The
Book of Mormon and this young man was like Ammon. He literally changed the course of his entire
mission and life by moving toward Love rather than running away because of
fear. The Lord is leading this church!”
Another story they shared was one actually told to them by
an Area President there in Africa several
years ago. His name is Elder Oakes.
“When he was called here one of the fist assignments he was
given was to go to a small village named Ilimi – in Kenya – about 3 hours
outside of Nairobi – and close a small church on top of a mountain. The church had no road to it – no electricity
and no water. It took the members about
45 minutes to hike from the bottom of the hill to the top. Most of the members were quite old – the path
was steep and usually very muddy making it almost impossible to get to. After climbing the hill with the Branch
Pres., they finally came to the small little church. As they walked around the building Pres.
Oakes was surprised to see a baptismal font there at the top of the
mountain. Since there was no water or
electricity he asked how they filled the baptismal font. Humbly, the Branch Pres. said, “63 women
would climb the mountain with a bucket of water on their heads – or one woman
would climb herself – 63 times!” Then
they would all stand in the water to raise the water level so the baptism could
be performed. Elder Oakes was so touched
with their devotion and humility he decided not to close the branch. It was our (Hartman’s) blessing to be able to
go to church at this little church on Easter Sunday (2012.) Since that time they have added on to the
building, and built a small room for primary.
The chapel was filled with over 200 people, most barefoot, wearing hand me
down clothes. The spirit was so strong
and we felt so blessed to be there with these wonderful people. This is truly a memory we will never forget.”
Elder Hodges is really a lucky missionary to be serving with
such wonderful people.
