“Now I Took the Challenge”

In May 2005, Stacy Wambui Mugo had been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Eldoret for two weeks when she was called to be the secretary in the Relief Society. “That worried me so much,” she recalled. “I know nothing, I’m still new, what does the Lord expect me to do? So I ran away from Eldoret and went to Bungoma.” There, 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, Stacy tried to get settled and move on with life. “I stayed there about six months. Things never worked for me,” she said. “I thought, maybe because I ran away from Eldoret and the calling I had been given, all these problems were coming. So I decided to come back.”

Stacy went to her cousin, who had introduced her to the Church, and asked for help. Her cousin showed her the Church Handbook of Instructions and told her to call her with questions. Stacy served in her calling as Relief Society secretary. When she was eventually released, she thought her Church duties were completed.

Then she was called as Young Women president. “Then I said, ‘My goodness, a president, now what will I do again?’ But because I was now acquainted, I was able to find the resources from the Church Handbook of Instructions,” she said, and “tried to learn more about what a Young Women president should do.”

In 2011, Stacy and her husband, whom she had married in 2010, moved to a new place with their combined eight children. Their membership transferred to a different ward boundary. She hoped she could take a break from serving. But then she was called to the branch Primary presidency. Later, she was called to be the district Primary president of the Eldoret District.

Stacy worked hard to train Primary leaders in the district’s four branches of Eldoret, Langas, Huruma, and Sosiani.

Then she was called as district Relief Society president. “Now the Lord expects me to learn something from there,” she remembers thinking. “Now I took the challenge.”

Not only did Stacy receive support from the other women who accepted calls as her counselors and secretary; her husband and children also supported her. Her husband helped her get to places she needed to visit, and her teenage children took care of laundry and cooking.

When she was called as district Relief Society president, Stacy and her husband had a meeting with the children. “Now I’ve been given this calling,” Stacy said, “each and every one is required to support one another now. I need your support most, because most of the time I’ll be going out for the trainings. I’ll be called each and every time we have these problems.”

Stacy, who had run her own grocery business for years, brought other Relief Society leaders together to discuss problems the sisters were facing, including supporting their families. She organized trainings on making soap or cooking samosas to sell and also on managing resources wisely. As Stacy learned to consecrate her time and talents, the Lord made her a blessing in others’ lives.