It's a Small World After All

I am ever amazed at how every time I leave my house, something incredible happens. Dinner after the Maasai village was no different. After helping myself to seconds of the apple crisp, one of the cooks started up a conversation with Amy and followed her back to the table. Everyone there was uber-friendly, so this was nothing new. We're chatting, and then he asks us if we are Christian. "We are." "Where do you pray from? Protestant?" "No, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is not very big in Uganda. Do you know it?" "Yes I do." "No, not Church of Christ." "No, I know. I know it. I pray from there." "No, really, are you sure? We are very few here." "Yes, I know. I was at the dedication of the temple in Helsinki ". GET OUT!!! YOU REALLY ARE LDS! I almost jumped out of my chair. I swear to you, Africa is the craziest place on the face of the earth. He met the missionaries when he was studying Culinary Arts in Helsinki. He told us his conversion story, his family's conversion story, and then we moved the convo to the veranda for some fresh air and hot chocolate. Some people have the gift of believing. Joseph has this gift. He just can't keep the good news to himself. J I asked him if he was surprised to find out we were LDS. No, he said. I was surprised. I asked if he met many LDS members at the Lodge. Nope. We were the first. But he said he wasn't surprised because he "witnesses" all the time. He's constantly sharing the gospel with staff members and guests and didn't even bat an eye when he found out we were members, like he already knew it or something. I practically fell out of my chair. He just expected it.

We talked about life, about the need to be converted, about the incredible gift we have, about how he can't keep this gift to himself. It was God that gave it to him and he must share it because it is not his own to keep. We laughed about how everyone in Finland would come to see the African member of the church. I'm pretty sure he was the only one. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in our lives and how it is essential to guiding us through this world. I'm constantly impressed by the faith of the members here. They are so humble, so believing, so strong, and so open.

Who ever would have thought I would meet a member of the church at a lodge in far east Kenya over ice cream (which he snuck for us) and apple crisp?