For Joseph and Gladys Sitati and their five children, the 2,000-mile trip from their home in Nairobi, Kenya, to Johannesburg, South Africa, was special in many ways. For one thing, it was made to keep a promise they made to Heavenly Father that they would be sealed as a family in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple.

"Just from the social side, my family has never been on a trip like that before," said Pres. Sitati, president of the Nairobi Kenya District. The children were excited about their first airplane ride and seeing new and different things in a more developed country.However, for the parents, the thing that seemed to set the stage for a very special week was the love they felt while being hosted by Elder Richard P. Lindsay and his wife, Marian. Elder Lindsay is president of the Africa Area.

"You come to appreciate truly that these are servants of the Lord and they are really committed to the principles of the gospel," Pres. Sitati said. "It is their love, their commitment to one another that is very special. You cannot fail to be affected by it.

"Now I see things differently. For example, I now realize my wife's spiritual growth is also my personal [concernT. It is not that I can say, `I'm going to do this on my own. I'll help her, but if she doesn't do it, that is her problem.'

"As we went to the temple and met Pres. Charles Canfield and the temple missionaries, we could feel that there is something about this Church that you don't find anywhere else. I feel it is the spirit of service and the spirit of love."

Elder J. Ballard Washburn, first counselor in the Africa Area presidency, performed the sealing ordinance for the Sitati family. "It was one of the sweetest experiences," Elder Washburn said. "The father and mother had worked hard, and planned a long time. As they knelt at the altar in fulfillment of their dream, the Spirit of the Lord was there with such power."

Pres. Sitati observed, "With what has happened this one week in the temple and receiving our patriarchal blessings, I would say that our family will never be the same again. The light has been lit and we have something to follow. There is a guide.

"What I pray for most is that the Lord will forgive our weaknesses and help us to strive to do our very best to make these promises possible in our lives. Now we have to plan our spiritual growth together as husband and wife, as a family. We shall read the scriptures together. We shall grow together."

As a Church leader in Kenya, Pres. Sitati plans to teach other members in his country as he has been taught - by example. "Choose the right," he said. "Is it according to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ? If it is, then I'll do it. And, because it is right, people will see the effect of it and they will have a desire to do it - in the same way that we look at the Lindsays and what they are, and we have a desire in our hearts to try to be like them. It will not be necessary for me to try to tell others, `You should try to be like this.' They will see it. If they have a desire in their hearts to apply the principles of the restored gospel in their lives, they will do it. It is important for people to have a testimony of the doctrine that they will be blessed if they are righteous."

Pres. Sitati praised LDS families from the United States and other countries who are living in Kenya because of their employment. "They will have a big role to play in order to be the example of what a good Latter-day Saint is, and from their experience to teach those things that people should know so they can grow up to have an understanding of the gospel that you find in Johannesburg or in Salt Lake City," he said.