Wallace Githehu of Nairobi, Kenya

By Barbara Jean Jones

To see lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, monkeys, and other wild animals, most children go to a zoo. Not Wallace Githehu. Wallace is from Nairobi, Kenya, where these animals roam freely in a game park just outside the city! “There, you can see snakes, lions, cheetahs—my favorite is the lion,” Wallace says.

Part of the game park is an animal orphanage. Here baby animals who have lost their parents or animals who have been hurt are cared for until they can take care of themselves. Wallace especially loves to visit the animal orphanage.

But there is another place Wallace likes to go even more. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he loves to go to Primary. His favorite Primary songs are “The Golden Plates” and “As I Have Loved You.”

Wallace is one of the pioneer members in his country. The Church was registered in Kenya only a few years ago, in 1991. At six years old, Wallace is almost as old as the Church in Kenya! His parents were baptized when he was just a baby.

Wallace’s heart is a lot like a lion’s—brave and strong. Even though he and his older brother, Brian, age 10, are the only Latter-day Saint boys in their school, they are not afraid to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the morning when he puts on his school uniform, Wallace thinks of being a good example to his teachers and classmates. He works hard at school. Even though he is only six, he already speaks two languages fluently—English and Swahili. Swahili is a major language of East Africa.

Wallace tries hard to love others. He is good to his friends and family members, especially to his three-year-old sister, Sharon. “When she is sad, I make her laugh,” he says. Wallace also makes his family happy by playing music and singing and dancing with them.

Wallace and his family read the Book of Mormon together every evening before dinner. Each person reads one verse out loud. Then the family members talk about what those verses mean to them. “If we read the scriptures every day, then God will bless us,” Wallace says as he shares his testimony with his family.

Wallace also reads the scriptures on his own. He explains that Nephi is his favorite prophet “because he is a man of God and he does good things. I also love Joseph Smith because he translated the Book of Mormon.”

Not long ago Wallace was able to see and hear a modern-day prophet when President Gordon B. Hinckley came to Nairobi. Wallace went with his family to listen to President Hinckley speak. “I couldn’t believe I was seeing the prophet,” Wallace says. “I thought I was going to faint!” At the meeting Wallace felt the Spirit tell him that President Hinckley is a prophet of God. Wallace also heard President Hinckley tell the people that if they will be faithful, someday there will be a temple in East Africa.

Right now the nearest temple to Wallace and his family is thousands of kilometers away in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is very difficult and very expensive to travel there from Kenya. A temple is also planned for West Africa, but Ghana, the site of that temple, is still thousands of kilometers from Wallace’s home.

Wallace and his family are living so that they can be sealed as a family in the temple. His parents are working hard and saving all they can so their family can travel to the temple. Just as pioneer children of old walked many kilometers to receive a promised land, Wallace and his family will someday travel many kilometers to receive the promised blessings of the temple.

When he is old enough, Wallace wants to be a full-time missionary so he can help share the blessings of the gospel with others. But Wallace is already working to build up the Church. Because he and the other courageous Kenyan pioneers like him are being patient and faithful, as President Hinckley counseled them, it is easy to believe that someday there will be a temple in their beautiful land.

Photography by Barbara Jean Jones

Wallace and his family read the scriptures together each day before their evening meal. Below, from left: Wallace’s mother, Jennifer; a family friend, Dorcas; Wallace’s sister, Sharon, with their father, Patrick; his brother, Brian; and Wallace. The family enjoys going to see the animals that roam free in a game park outside Nairobi.