Kilungu Hills and Nairobi

Our red eye flight from Cairo to Nairobi yesterday morning landed around 5 am and we went over to the car rental kiosk to pick up our car only to find the woman who was supposed to be working there asleep. And not just like head down on her desk asleep, she was curled up in a sleeping bag on the floor! Awesome. I guess we should just be grateful that she works for the Budget car rental and not for the air traffic control.

After she woke up, we were given keys to our very own, not-so-brand-new 1990’s Land Cruiser Prado. It was really a gutless wonder, but we were grateful for the 4-WD because after picking up a few grocery items at the Nakaumatt we headed up to Kilungu Hills, the last area where C.J. served during his mission.

 Everyone was pretty beat up from the long day in Cairo and getting little-to-no sleep on the red eye flight.

Also, please don't judge that the clothes you will see are the same as those worn the previous day. . .  :)

The members of Kilungu Hills are AMAZING! Due to living conditions (no running water or electricity) the Church had not allowed missionaries to live in that area for the past 15 years and so the members have been on their own and had been doing their own missionary work and preparing people for baptism themselves. C.J. fell in love with those members when he was working as an assistant to his mission president and was given the responsibility of going up to interview the prospective baptism candidate to ensure that they had been taught the necessary basic principles of the gospel before being baptized.

About a month after C.J. started working in the office, the mission was able to find a house in the area where the missionaries could live (it had electricity at least half of the time) and so the mission president sent C.J. and his companion up there to try to work on the “running water” situation. And they were able to jerry-rig some pipe with running water to come into the house into a sink (aka a bucket) and then they sent 2 missionaries up to re-open the area. And then when C.J. was transferred out of the office, he was able to spend the last 2 transfers of his mission in the area and fell even more in love with the members.

C.J. with 2 of the missionaries now serving in Kilungu outside of the apartment they fixed up

And let me just add, that I found out that yes, they do have "running water;"

however, having a real toilet is not apparently on the church's list,

because when I asked where the bathroom was

I was directed to a hole in a closet in the hall of the apartment building.

 Looking out over part of Kilungu

 Even Kilungu has a "corner store."

Although I doubt they have slurpees. 

Although they may have had penny candy. I should have checked into that.

 The boys with some of the leadership, and children, of one of the branches in Kilungu.

 Mom and I with the Branch President Onesmus' wife and Lucy (a branch member)

 Sean and I with some of the ADORABLE kids of the branch

 One of Kilungu's church buildings

Then today we went to church at the Mountainview Ward (formerly the Westlands Branch while C.J. was serving there) which also has a special place in his heart because he spent nearly a year of his mission in that branch/ward.

 with the Australian bishop, Bishop Osborne, who threatened that he was going to make C.J. a permanent member of the branch and give him a branch calling if he stayed with them any longer

 C.J. with Kevin (who served in Uganda with my cousin Tyler Batt) and his wife and baby

 C.J. and Mom and Dad with Richard and his wife

(Richard is the ward clerk, and is a member of the Masai tribe)

C.J.'s mission president and his wife, President and Sister Broadbent, invited us over to their home for dinner after church. They are such a cute, fun and energetic couple and so it was awesome to get to spend time with them and hear how the mission is doing. 

And tomorrow, we head to Arusha, Tanzania to start our SAFARI!!!!!!!!!!!