Week 80: "Members" not Members? Let's change that!

Good evening-- or morning or afternoon (depending where in the world you are when you read this)

Transfer news is this evening, lots of changes will be happening with quite a few elders leaving today for home and the mission so small. But as for me and my companion, I think one of us will be leaving- but you never know what the Lord has in store. I love Kinondoni and TZ in general and would stay here my whole mission if I could..Maybe Arusha is next? No idea.

We are doing well, one thing is this week we found out two people who are always at church since I have been here but have yet to be baptized. They are so humble and more faithful than some of the members when it comes to church attendance! We truly thought they are members! We are looking forward to teaching them more, although they know a lot about the church and the teachings already and their brother and sister in law whom they live with are strong members in the gospel. They are all originally from Zimbabwe.

Everyone was in Ubungo on Saturday and Sunday as we watched the Sat and Sun sessions of general conference. Very powerful counsel was given throughout. If you missed any of it I would advise to go back through it! I liked how much was said regarding the family and all the things that impressed me that I can work on. Although none of our investigators were able to make it, this week they should be at church this Sunday as everything will be back to normal.

We celebrated Elder Ojjogolo's early birthday today with the zone at the couples and it seems like everyone is doing great, just awaiting transfer news this evening.

Questions-

Do you like Swahili? Yeahh a lot. Super cool language.

Do you have an oven? Ever make cookies? Yeah actually we do in this flat. And I made some cookies last Monday but it only got to the phase of the batter before it was all eaten.

How are things in the Mission Field? Fantastic

Still getting lots of referrals? A few here and there

How is English class going? Great. Had like 12 people last week there for it

Any more Gospel discussions? Yup!

Do you do much proselyting / tracting? Yup

Any beach time lately? Nope

Do you still go to the gym? Yup

How is Nicole? Ha- fantastic.

How is attendance overall? A normal Sunday anywhere from 60-80 people

How many members are in the mission? MormonNewsroom states as of the beginning of 2014 there were 12,471 in Kenya and in Tanzania 1,336. Over a year ago though.

Well, until next weeeeeek! Love you all and thanks for your prayers!

Mzee Eveson, signing out from TZ. Have a good night.

Much love from the KNM

Justine and I -- he leaves for his Mission on Thursday

John, Shigaela and Me

The best food is cooked from this exact kitchen that you see -- overhead view with Mama cooking yesterday.  Every Sunday night.

Week 79: Enjoying the Lord's Work

Time is short, been catching up on a few things but good week and all is well here.

Questions:

How long are the days there are they like here or shorter? Seems like always the same since we are so close to the equator. In the 6 months that I have been here, it's always sunrise just past 6am and sunset just past 7pm.

What will the winter weather be like? Well May is next month and it is the hottest month in Dar es Salaam. I forgot what winter is.

Are there a lot of strange bugs? Some strange ones, not too many though

Transfer news? Next week. Remember to send letters to this address- the Mission home forwards them to me wherever I am serving:

Elder Brandon Keith Eveson
Kenya Nairobi Mission
PO Box 46162-00100
Upper Hill Rd next to Citigroup
Nairobi --KENYA --

Global postage for a card is $1.15 -- or 3 Forever Stamps will get it here. Under the postage, please write -- VIA AIRMAIL -- as letters without that go by boat, taking up to 6 months to arrive.

Love you all!

Elder Eveson

Much love from the KNM

Week 78: Six Months Left to Serve My Mission

Sister Eveson goes home today. Well . . . if I was a Sister missionary I would be flying home now, as 18 months have passed. But I am grateful I have another 6 more months to serve the Lord.

Just a few things because of time-

Mama Patrick was baptized along with Daniel yesterday. We weren't sure if Daniel would make it by this week but all the right things happened and he was interviewed and passed and was baptized! He is the first member in his family- 22ish years old and we have a great relationship with their family and hopefully we can continue to teach all of them- despite them staying reallly far from our area.

This week we had a powerful District Meeting, counseling about the question 'How can we endure to the end of our missions better?' I listed all the problems of why it might be hard on a board then we came up for solutions for all. It seems lots of the mission is getting closer to going home with not many new Elders and Sisters coming in- and after October it will be pretty small.

Quote
"The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want neither fine clothes, fine houses, nor fine furniture." -Benjamin Franklin

Questions-
Did you hear Obama is planning on going to Kenya in June?
Yup, that will be interesting with events that have been happening.

Did you hear about Obama meeting with the First Presidency and some of the 12 Apostles?
Yeah I saw it on Mormon Newsroom- and it's because they counseled in the Lord's way. If nations could be run that way, we would see changes and improvement.

The picture is of Mama Patrick and Daniel.

Love you all!

Love Elder Eveson

Much love from the KNM

Mama Patrick and Daniel were baptized yesterday!

Week 77: Easter Blessings = Deep Gratitude for Christ's Resurrection

Hope you all had a great Easter!

I am looking forward to being able to listen to General Conference!

And Yes- for those who asked, Elder Sitati who spoke Sunday afternoon is from Naitiri, which is right next to my last area Mautuma (Kitale zone). I know some of his family that stay there. I never met him because I was transferred here, but he returned home for Christmas and the Elders in Kitale met him then.

Also, my cousin Kristjan (serving in the California Arcadia Mission) said he has met him a few times serving there in California. I also heard Elder Renlund who was the previous Africa Southeast Area President spoke on Nelson Mandela- looking forward to hearing that talk as well.

For this week we have some great recent converts we are working with and teaching more about the Priesthood and the questions they have for us.

We have a part member, family member who will be baptized this week. The family was a referral and the 11 year old son was baptized about 8 months ago, and now the Mom will be baptized. She is awesome and will be a great member.

Quote-- "The funny thing about a family is that it's the best place to find a friend, but we always forget to look there" -unknown

And another- "I don't think any ride at Disneyland or DisneyWorld compares to the Dar es Salaam traffic ride" -someone

Now to answer everyone's questions--

What do you cook the most? Pilau, pancakes, french toast or eggs. Way easy and quick.

What are the problems with missionaries coming in?
Not able to get them a work permit. Visa isn't so much the issue as the work permits are.

Have you had much rain?
Nopeeee

Well the big question I am sure that you have had a lot of people ask is about the shootings in Kenya, what is the Church’s position, and have they talked to you about it? Not sure and we haven't heard anything from the mission about it.

Did anyone in the Mission get affected by the College Massacres in Kenya? Nope, that is northeastern Kenya, we don't have any missionaries anywhere around there.

Just a note on that-- these are the last days. They were asked if they were Muslims or Christians and none of the people that died denied their testimonies of Christ. Straight up martyred. These are the last days in which we live with wars, rumors of wars and it's not going to get better.

And in the spirit of Easter, I was studying about Christ's resurrection and I included the link- the following chapter 40 and up to and including chapter 42 in the book of Alma. Great stuff to read:

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/40?lang=eng

Time is super short. And keep sending me pics!

Love you all!

Elder Eveson

Much love from the KNM