Back in the States!

Brandon Eveson returned home from serving in the Kenya Nairobi Mission in October 2015.  He misses Kenya, Tanzania, and everyone he met there. Brandon is super grateful for the opportunity he had to Serve. He is also happy to be back in the States, making every day a new adventure!

Email address: bkeveson@gmail.com
Instagram: eveson11
Snapchat: brandoneveson

From left: my sis, Lexi, my Mom, Ginger, Me and my bro Cody in Bonaire

Earned my PADI Advanced Diver Certification
Under the Sea with my family: Jeff, Cody, Ginger, Lexi and Me

Week 97 - Introducing the New Assistant to the President

Hey we had a grrreat week and we are headed over to President's house soon for dinner then take Elders to the airport...busy few days here.

Some of the highlights from the week are the baptism we had on Sunday for Pauline.

Elder Ngabonziza got his working permit so he went to Busia and we were back to just the 2 of us.

We found out a less active member lives in the compound next to us so we have already been there a few times then she came to the Member Meeting with President Clayton, Elder Hamilton, and Elder Hall then to church on Sunday and stayed for the baptism!

The General Authorities came Friday for a missionary meeting then a member meeting and after that our bags got locked in the chapel so we had to go back Saturday morning to get them and that was when alllll the stake presidency, district presidencies, branch presidencies, and group leaders from the whole mission (Kenya and Tanzania) were arriving for training with the general authorities. The only picture I got was with President Itongwa of the Mwanza branch..almost 2 years since I saw him! That is who the attached picture is with. It was super cool to see everyone! And when I saw the Dar es Salaam leaders it was like a family reunion haha super good to see all the leaders from everywhere I have served.

And Saturday Evening President Hicken called and gave me my transfer news, I have been called by the Lord to finish my mission as an assistant and counselor to him. Which also means my proselyting area is now Riruta and we are the only companionship in the mission with a car. My companion is Elder Mukonda from Lusaka, Zambia and he finishes in 3 months. Elder Warwood flies out tonight back to Battle Mountain so the new office Elders are Elder Moline (leaves with me) and Elder Lopeyok (my former companion in Dar) so I am really looking forward to finishing strong around great missionaries. Lots of duties and responsibilities now but it is all possible through relying on the Lord. I am really looking forward to working closely with President as he is a great teacher and full of inspiration.

Yesterday everyone going home came in to Nairobi and we had a super late night then organized logistics for everyone moving around and now we are headed over to Presidents for dinner then taking everyone to the airport who is flying out tonight...including my trainer! Haha how cool is that..

**And an announcement is that my Pday is now on Saturday because of things we have to do on Monday.

Much love from the KNM
Elder Eveson

President Itongwa of the Mwanza Branch and Me

Week 96: Best P-Day ~ Safari in Nairobi National Park

Hey!

Sorry this week is super quick, I had the besssst P-days of my mission with some faaantastic couples. They took us on a Safari in Nairobi National Park. I had to take one day to do something touristy since I haven't done any in the past 20-something months!

I will update a little next week but we will be really busy with Elders (including my companion) and Sisters going home, so not sure when we will email, but I will have another companion next week.

The week went by superrrr fast with flat checks and baptismal interviews and things.

Zone Training Meeting went SUPER well and it was 2 hours but everyone seemed to enjoy it and time flew everyone said which is good. And we ended with a game so everyone liked that.

This week despite all the things we did we were blessed with lessons, member presents, and new investigators and we had a great week!

One of the new investigators is Pauline, who was taught by a lot of Missionaries but has been at boarding school. So we taught and reviewed with her the Baptism questions, and she knows a lot, so she will be baptized this week in Upperhill. She is powerful for being 15 years old.

Contacts were super low since we were with Elder Ngabonziza for the whole week, and he doesn't have a work permit yet, so we have to be careful until he gets that.

The first annual Ward Conference was great at South B ward on Sunday with a high of 66 people there for Sacrament.

Congrats to Cody on getting his driver's license on his 16th birthday!

Bummer to hear about the fire up near Wallowa Lake and all the others in the great Pacific NW.

Questions-

You said you live near the Statehouse. Have you walked or jogged through the Arboretum Park?

Not sure where that is

Do you meet many people that you have to talk to in Swahili, or is it all English in Nairobi?

People use Swahili here and it is the key to getting to be friends with the people. Because I learned their language, they want to talk to me and they feel comfortable like I am one of them (and it's the weapon for getting good deals on things) so I still use it a bit.

What is Elder Ngabonziza's home language?

Kinyarwanda

Can you follow it at all when Elder Ngabonziza talks with those from Rwanda?

Just a little, pretty different though

Is Kinyarwanda a form of Swahili? Nope

How well does Elder Ngabonziza speak English?

Really well actually, we don't have any language problems

Enjoy the pictures... and just wait 'til you see the others next week.

Love you all!

Elder Eveson

Much love from the KNM

Elder Harding, Elder Ngabonziza and Me with Nairobi Skyline backdrop

Hanging out with the Giraffes at Nairobi National Park

Elder Eveson
Kenya Nairobi Mission
Referral Secretary
Upper Hill Road
Next to Citigroup
PO Box 46162-00100
Nairobi,
KENYA
mormon.org

Week 95: Mormon Helping Hands at St. Catherine's & More Great Opportunities

Hey!

We have had a great week still being a companionship of three.

Mormon Helping Hands on Saturday went very well at St. Catherine's orphanage/school in South B area which was great to be a part of. Upperhill and South B combined, and there were only like 35 of us, but the orphans who stay there all helped out and we did a lottt which was great to see. Then President Hicken invited us over to his place to play bocce ball afterward, and then out to Chinese..yeah it was faaantastic.

We picked up a greatt new investigator, Wendy, who actually contacted us trying to sell life insurance to us, then we flipped it and contacted her. We have met with her and she is a nice young lady. We have had a great lesson with her, and are looking forward to more with her and the friends she wants to introduce us to. We used Sarah (one of the guards here who is a member) as her fellowshipper, which went very well.

Friday we had our office day, then went and had a powerrrful dinner appointment and lesson with a member family who are from Ghana, lived in Atlanta and had kids there, went back to Ghana, and now are here in Nairobi. Hahaha super great family to be around.

On Sunday at Church, we had a lady here visiting from Toronto, Canada, and she thought maybe we were from around here because she said we picked up big accents -- but to us, we were the ones thinking she had the accent. Haha it was pretty funny.

It seems with overall regards to the Zones, numbers have been pretty low since I have been here. My companion and I have talked about it, and we will be having a ballllin Zone Training Meeting this Wednesday to hopefully get things on fire here in the Upperhill Zone.

Questions- (willl answer the rest next week)

You are an office elder? What are your responsibility?​

You know on mormon.org where you can put in someones info for the missionaries to visit? That's what my companion and I check, then send that info to the Missionaries serving in that area, or send them pamphlets if they stay where there is no Church. We also do other office duties​.

This coming 'supa sato' (super saturday) we will be all over Nairobi checking the other missionaries flats so that should be fun. Driving in Nairobiii.

And next Monday we have a ssssuper sweet pday set up since it is my companion's and Elder Harding's last Pday on mission, as the following meeting they have their flights to catch.... Stay tuned next week.

Have a faaantastic week!

Love, Elder Eveson

Much love from the KNM

Week 94: Gratitude for the Lord's Plan, Another Companion & A Meat Fest

Hey! I don't have too much time but here are some highlights from the week:

This week was good, I learned a lot at Zone Conference and my companion and I will be implementing the things we noticed we need to work on.

The same day we received Elder Ngambonziza to be with Elder Warwood and I, which has been great, although 3 is a crowd. He is with us until things get worked out with his work permit- which depends on if he will start serving here in Kenya or go to TZ. He will be a great missionary and it is like Elder Warwood and I are his trainers before he gets his trainer.

Elder Ngambonziza is the first missionary from Rwanda to come to the Kenya Nairobi Mission, and only the 11th ever to leave the country to serve the Lord for 2 years.  I have a cool story to share another time -- but he met and taught someone from his home place already with us, in his home language.

There are no coincidences, I am thankful for the Plan of the Lord in helping His sons and daughters understand a little more about the True Gospel that has been restored to the earth.

It was kinda funny, we had been together in the trio for about 10 minutes and he thought both me and my companion were from South Africa because of our accents. Hahaha actually quite a few people think that- you would be surprised.

This week Elder Harding, Elder Warwood and I went out and spoiled ourselves. It is nice to do that once in a while. We went to Carnivore restaurant- which they boast the title 'Africa's greatest eating experience'. I could say so. I was king of the table. We ate pork, beef, lamb, chicken, crocodile, rabbit, and bull (some parts of the bull). It was powerfullll!! The following morning was another story....I hadn't eaten that much meat before and long story short, right after I received a Priesthood blessing I felt better, and didn't have any more body problems -- and we had a powerful day.

Questions-

Do you actually get P-days anymore or is it just another office day?

P days! But we do fun stuff so we don't email that long!

What is Nairobi like? Cold!

Are people generally friendly or guarded? Depends

Do they yell Mzungu, or approach you or ignore you?

Everyone is about their business, we approach people. Just like everywhere else

Are they receptive to Americans?

Yeah, because of Obama we are all related here...that's how it goes right?

So how is the new area?

Great, so far so good we have some nice people we are teaching

Are you one of the office elders?

Yeah me and my companion are the Office Elders

Much love from the KNM,

Elder Eveson

My Meat Fest Boneyard Plate

 

 

Elder Harding, Elder Warwood and Me at Carnivore

 

 

 

Week 93: Followed Promptings Changes Lives ~ Miracles from the Least Expected Events

Hey we have had a great, busy week.

One of the highlights was President Hicken did some training with us office elders and the APs on Thursday with the movie Cains Mutiny and it was great to learn from as he paused it often and explained it and related it all to Gospel Principles and life situations and so on. I really enjoyed it and took away lots of life advice from it.

The tough thing about serving here is we haven't been able to have many members work with us. I think it is because where our area is, is where lots of people work, not live. We have discovered that from contacting as well- we find great people then they are just in the area for work then they go back to where they stay in other missionaries areas. But no effort is lost!

As far as progressing investigators- We have 2 that are really progressing and one we started teaching this week who we will be extending a baptism date to. The progressing are Joel from South B and Jiarus from Upperhill. Jiarus is 29 years old, and a Solider for the Kenya General Service Union and had been sooo busy the 2 months before Obama came now he is a lot more free and is a very powerful investigator. When Obama was here he was around him a lot which he said was pretty cool. This week he will be visiting his home place, but next week he will be back in Nairobi and we will continue teaching. He is currently schooling as well and has a wife and a kid whom we have yet to meet.

And the new investigator Fred was at Church in Upperhill on the 26th (when we went to South B) that was invited by a member named Stella. We did a Church tour and had a powerful lesson with him and his daughter who is visiting from Canada, as she is schooling there. His wife, son and daughter are all in Eastern Canada schooling, but we will see if we can refer them to the missionaries there.

We have not tried streetboarding yet here, just lots of contacting. We are trying to find a good place to do it were people live around, not just work around which is a bit tough.

Zone conference on Wednesday should be powerful as always.

Questions:

How do you like your new comp? He is super great we are having a fun time together.

How is life in Nairobi? Good.

Do you get a lot of referrals coming in to the office? Yeah off Mormon.org

Do you communicate on Skype with people to tell them about the Gospel, or just send the names to the Elders/Sisters in their area? Just call them and see where they stay then we send them some things about the church and if they stay where missionaries are we refer them to those Elders or Sisters.

How are things going with the Kenya area you were in before you went to Tanzania? Mautuma- everything seems alright from what I hear.

Is Kenya / Tanzania finally letting new Missionaries in? The only problem is Kenya.. and not sure as of now- things are still getting worked out.

Did your buddy in Dar get baptized as planned? Elias will be baptized this Sunday!

Do you get to keep in touch with anyone you taught, or the Missionaries you have worked with, while still there? Yeah, whenever.

Did the landlords that found your Liahonas (Ensign Magazines) after the flood (in Kenya) ever join the Church? I just asked right now the branch President of the Rongai branch who works for the church here- Peter Ondigo- and he said the whole family that stays here in Nairobi has been baptized- the landlord and all his family! Powerfullll. He is not sure about the other part that stay up there in the bush but I will find out. And Vincent was my good friend (landlord) so I will have to follow up and see how he is doing and meet up with him.

Not too much else- take care everyone!

Elder Eveson

Much love from the KNM

Week 92: Experiencing Nairobi and Views of POTUS Visit

Hey! I hope everyone had a great week! We have been busy and it is great (and cooold) here in Nairobi. Well I only say cold because I came from Dar and I was used to being so hot all the time. But all is well!

Obviously the big news was the President of the United States was here, along with hundreds of Secret Service and tens of thousands of security men and women.

So Monday was cool, talked with the guy next to me on the plane ride from Dar. Got here, emailed, and went and sat in the famous Nairobi traffic for a few hours picking up Elders from the bus station.

Then Tuesday, sent some Elders off and got settled in. The rest of the week we had some great lessons and one of our investigators is an Oral Surgeon and was in Salt Lake for a meeting/conference and went on a tour of Temple Square, and then when he came back he contacted us. So it will be great working with him, as his office is not too far from the mission office. Oh and we were supposed to have an appointment with him Thursday, but we got there and he was too busy drilling on patients' teeth, so we rescheduled for this week.

We saw some recent converts and we have a lot of things to do. On Fridays we are here in the office doing online Mormon.org referrals and anything else we need to.

Friday evening, and Saturday during personal study at 8:30am, huuuge powerful US choppers interrupted us and they were around until Sunday when he left. We live veryyy close to the Statehouse (aka the White House of Kenya) in a really nice area which is where Obama had meetings on Friday and Saturday, so the choppers were around a lot and they had our road closed for him to pass.

We went out contacting Saturday towards town and we got stuck with roads shut down and we had to wait for 1 1/2 hours until Obama and his convoy passed which was interesting. Then later we were at the office then we went contacting into some places both of us had never been and came out right next to Statehouse, which was the same exact time he was leaving Statehouse press conference, so we saw him again in his convoy in one of the two 'Beasts' he brought.

Church on Sunday was great, we cover 2 areas- South B and Upperhill. Upperhill is the ward that meets next door to the mission offices. We attended South B which is an hour walk away and I bore my testimony- and when Sacrament Meeting started I was thinking of what I should say and then when the time came I got up there and my mind was filled with something totally different. It is amazing how the Holy Ghost helps us and can give us the very words at the very moment. All I remember is something about how in God's eyes we are all equal. I gave the example of how Obama comes with airplanes, dozens of different kinds of choppers, and so many staff, gets the roads shut down and anything he needs. But in the eyes of God we are all the same. He is the same as me, who is the same as you, who is the same as the beggar on the side of he street and the same as the CEO of your favorite big company. Then I tied it in to how we learn more about that in the Temple and encouraged everyone to prepare and go who has not been. Anyways I just thought that was interesting.

And something funny- this week my companion got a haircut a a really nice place and then I opted at a cheaper, more local, village like Kinyozi. The guy was a Maasai and didn't even speak English and just a lick of Swahili. Imagine trying to tell him how to cut my hair. It didn't go so well. And right when he started my companion looked at me and I thought of a talk I read earlier in the week and I started laughing. link to he talk-- https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/come-what-may-and-love-it?lang=eng

And long story short the guy kinda saved the haircut from what it was heading to and I turned out looking like a US marine. Sometimes you just have to laugh things off. A great talk though!

The whole week we would walk by people and hear things like 'Secret Service' or 'watu wa Obama' which means 'Obamas people' among others- it was pretty funny. Much happier being the Lord's servants.

Questions:

How is the new area? Super great.

Do you work with the AP’s? Yeah a lot. They live next door and we are together a lot, and also the couples live next door (powerful dinner appointments)

How is the apartment? Pretty nice. The APs have the only washer and dryer in the Mission so we get to use that which is a bonus.

How was the visit from the Pres? Alright I guess- Nairobi was DEAD and locked off.. nooobody was out as everyone had a 3 day weekend because Obama gave it to them.

Did you get to hear his speech or did the Elders all stay in during his visit or?? No, and no.

Did the phone or internet get disconnected? Surprisingly, no.

What do you think of Nairobi? It's good.

Enjoying your new comp? Hahaha yaaaa it's great.

How do you get around town? By driving my feet.

How long does it take to get from your place to the Mission Home? 25 minutes walking, 8-10 in a car with no traffic.

Well have a great weeeeek!

Elder Eveson
Kenya Nairobi Mission
Referral Secretary
Upper Hill Road
Next to Citigroup
PO Box 46162-00100
Nairobi,
KENYA
mormon.org