Letter from Josh 18 July 2010

Well, it was another busy week, and its not going to slow down at all. we got back from arusha last night and we leave for chyulu tomorow and will go straight to mombasa from there and then we will have one day back in nairobi next monday and then leave tuesday again for that whole week. The schedule is crazy, but for the most part that is a good thing.
Arusha was pretty good. I was kinda upset because the missionaries that were there not too long ago werent working and so the area was dead and the branch is cold towards the missionaries. However the missionaries that are there now are very obedient and hard working missionaries so things should turn around. The branch was re-organized on sunday. almost the whole branch presidency and elders quorum presidency moved to a different city called mwanza. which means that there is very little priesthood leadership in arusha now, but it also means we could open a new branch in mwanza. so it has its pluses and minuses. but a few of the people i taught are now in those presidencies. There was this Masai guy named Elias that is now the 2nd councilor in the branch presidency and then this other kid (and i mean kid, he is 18 and has only been a member for about a year now) named Freddy is now the elders quorum president. I was shocked, and when i spoke with president broadbent about it on the way back to nairobi he said he was shocked too, but thats who the lord wanted. I am excited for Freddy, but i am also nervous to see how it ends up because his councilors are easily 10 years older than him and seniority is a huge thing here. A good number of the poeple i taught had also moved to Mwanza, so i didnt get to see everybody i would have liked too, but that wasnt really the purpose of going there either, so its ok.
President and sister broadbent have been giving a really good training on being united. specifically being united with the spirit. they did the training completely different both times, but both times it turned out really well. Presidents focus since the day he got here has been on doing things the lords way. anytime a elder has a problem he always tells them they just need to do what the lord wants. which means a great variety of different things just depending on the situation, but it has made a great difference in the mission. it use to be that if you complain long enough or loud enough you would get your way. But not anymore. now its the lords way or the highway. and it has helped missionaries see that this is not about them and what they want, and that it is only when you give yourself up that you find yourself. but it doesnt relate just to missionaries. it can be for anybody at anytime. if we do what the lord wants us to do then things will work out and we will be happy.
Dad, i figured all of those things that you said for us to do, but it just kinda seems like we will have a lot of time to just kill, we could drive around my areas within a few hours (in nairobi anyways) and if we go to Arusha then you will see the town within five minutes, it really is a small place. the only thing i might change is that i think it would be wierd to have you guys at the last testimony thing. i'm not saying no to it, but it would be kinda wierd, especially for the other missionaries. as far as visiting with people and paying the people back for the food or whatever, thats not a good idea. there is already too much of a culture of people asking for food and money from the white people, and it doesnt matter whether its a missionary or any other white person. and the more they are given the more you are confirming to them that they should just to continue to do that instead of becoming independant. it is quite literally to the point that even though there is a well 5 feet from their crops, they will not pull the water up to water the crops if the rain doesnt come. because if the rain doesnt come and their crops die then they can go get the relief food coming from the U.S. or Europe or wherever else. and the more we try to help the worse it becomes because it will just adds to the number of people not willing to work at all because "that would be hard, but its easy to just wait for the relief efforts to show up." If you did try to pay them back or whatever it would just be adding to the problem. even if the person you gave it to understood, the others that hear about it wont. its like the saying "if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a life time." and it is to the point that they all just sit around and wait for their fish to come for the day, because it will come if they can get even a tiny bit of media about "the problem" anywhere. I really wish that there could be some exception and for this one time we could do it and they would understand, but in the end it will just lead the people to asking the missionaries or the church for things they could easily get for themselves if they would simply try. to be honest, if you wanted to solve the poverty problems here, the solution would be to stop sending aid and make them actually work, and then they would have money for what they needed. but when you look at the problem from the outside (like from the states or whatever other country) it seems that sending the aid would help them because they cant help themselves. but they can help themselves, they just dont because its easier for them not to.
The pool looks fun, i miss summer break, i miss any break. i'm glad momma got her dream. and that the heater is now working so that she will actually get in herself. i miss you guys. i love you guys. i hope everything keeps going well!!!!
Love,
Elder Harris

P.S. President Broadbent said to tell you hello.