Meet Elder Mutasi from Kenya

Elder Lindley and Elder Mutasi

Elder Righton Lukalo Mutasi was born in May of 1993 in Kenya.  Shortly after his birth, his parents separated and he was raised until age 10 by his grandmother.  He has never seen his father and was told he died.  Life was never easy for little Righton.  His uncles were not kind and would make him tend their livestock.  At times they would beat him.  He could not afford to be completely enrolled in school and when he was 10 years old,  his grandmother sent him to an orphanage where he was enrolled in school and life became a bit better.

At the orphanage his friends were good to him but life took a turn for the worse in that the orphanage wanted tuition money from his grandmother which she could not manage,  So people around him began to show hatred because he was not paying for anything.  However this did not deter him from his desire for education and he persisted until he attained primary level in school.

When he had been in the orphanage for one year, he was taught the gospel and was baptized.  When he enrolled in high school, he thought his life was going to change.  Little did he know that he had a long ways to go.  The first year was good, but each year became worse for him because there was no tuition money.  His guardian at the time refused to pay and then threatened him that if he wished to continue his schooling, he would have to impersonate his son - that is stand in for him in the writing of an national exam.  As a last resort and not knowing where to turn, he complied.

After he did that, the guardian did not keep his word and refused to pay tuition for him.  It is only because Heavenly Father loves his children that he was able to complete his education.  He then left in search of employment, but never realized any miracles.  He was recruited to be a posting clerk in the election/  With the money he earned, he was able to fund his first year in the college of Information Communication and technology.  In the following year, he could not continue to school because of lack of funding, so he responded to a call from a friend asking him to attend an interview in one of the printing companies. Fortunately he secured a position there and was able to get started in the second year of the program.

One of the key factors in deciding to serve a mission was an experience he had in 2012.  He had taken a serious fall and was hospitalized for three months.  The experts had concluded that he would be bedridden for the remained of his life.  Miraculously he was healed which opened the way for him to be able to come on a mission.