"This place just gets crazier!"

Mommy,

Oh my goodness gracious.  This place just gets crazier  and more overwhelming every day.  Really, there is always so much going on here, mom. Wow.  Looking back, home was very calm and peaceful haha. There are always loud things going on at night, and ya just can't help hearing them cause the windows are always open. yeah, it's always busy. The traffic is just terrifying haha. we went to Entebbe today, and went to the zoo.  Got some awesome pictures to show haha. But yeah, the drive there and back... holy shoot.

Everyone says since I have a license that I will be driving soon. Don't know how I feel about that... haha. So at the zoo, it is a little different than the Hogle Zoo. Basically, you are walking around IN a zoo, and the exhibits are just for the more extreme animals. There were monkeys jut hanging out everywhere. I even fed one some of my donut haha. He just came up to me and I started handing him some. It was way cool. Then after the zoo, we all (as a zone) had lunch that Elder Cockbain cooked. He made us all HAMBURGERS. American food. That was definitely a blessing haha.

Yeah, bodas are super crazy, and I absolutely loathe them. Super annoying haha. Don't worry, I'm taking my pills. The nets just don't work as well as you think. They have some holes in them, so the little gundi's can come in. and if you are touching the net, they can get ya through it, so my feet always get bit because they hang off the edge of the bed! haha. We went and got bikes last week. They aren't very good, but they are basically the best we could find. I just pulled some money out of my personal funds. I used about 120,000 Ux. so like, 50 bucks. I am picking up on a few Lugandan words, but I won't HAVE to learn it. But the people talk so different here, so learning how they talk is like learning another language. Yeah, it's tough haha.

I had another baptism yesterday. Brother Kennedy Waswa.  Really good testimony on that guy. Whew.  He is basically teaching his brother the gospel and reading the BOM with him because Emanuel (his brother) doesn't speak any English.  Lot's of good work going on here. We teach so many lessons a day, and just Saturday we got 8 new investigators.  The hardest part is working in this climate haha.  It's SO HOT.  And the bikes are hard because they don't really have good gear sets, so it's hard to go up hills, and there are a lot of them here!  But yeah, I'm really working harder than I thought I could. It really is a challenge every day.  I've already lost like, 8 pounds haha.  Hopefully I'm not too chubby when I come home.

I've been getting a lot of help from the DL, Elder Morris.  He's really someone I can actually talk to about things, and still understand him haha.   Yeah, Elder Rami is great. Love the guy. He really is such an awesome teacher.  He knows exactly how to explain things to these people, and it's amazing how he does it.  We have to give lessons in very different orders than in the PMG, and we have to talk very simply.  A hard thing for people here is the Word of Wisdom.  A lot of people drink, and like, everyone uses coffee and tea.  It's just the culture.  One of our investigators - Michael - is a DJ and owner of a bar, but he is doing surprisingly well with the WoW.  Yeah, great people.  But some are really going through super hard challenges.  One investigator we have is really having a hard time keeping commitments, and at the end of one of our lessons, she tells us that just that morning, her husband was hit and killed by a car.  So that was hard. Then, to make it much worse, a week later the exact same thing happened to her father. Ugh, it sucks... We keep trying to get her to turn to the Lord for comfort, but I really don't know if she is willing to try it.

Yeah, I'm glad to hear everyone is doing okay back home. Your words mean so much to me, mom. No better motivation than knowing my family is being blessed for my suffering and labor. I just got word that the primary kids are going to do a program. it's just so tough to get organized here. So they are shooting for before December hopefully... Yeah. Church here is REALLY different. Much more than you would think, haha.  I can't even explain it.  We really have to like, take charge in everything.  They don't know any hymns, and we have to step in on the lessons, everything.

Oh, mom.  Can I tell you something?  The thing that I probably miss the absolute most is just getting a good long hug from my momma. Really.  That is always what's killing me, cause people don't hug here. Like, at all. Weird.  And I really just miss you all so much. It's hard to be out here away from home the first time in such a different environment. Heck, every little detail of everything is different.  Another thing I really miss is carpet. There is NO carpet here.  All just tiles! haha.  I'm really trying my best, and trying to understand that I have the Lord with me.  It really is a fight every day, but I know that God wouldn't give me anything I can't handle, and that this is the exact mission that I can grow the most personally.  So I'm trying to keep it up. I really just hope you are all noticing blessings in your lives, cause I've really been praying so hard for you  all! haha.

Yeah, I already knew about Elder Hamilton coming to the mission. But yeah, we probably won't get to watch anything but the Sunday session of conference on the actual day. The rest we have to wait for the CD's to come out... haha. I'm glad all my brothers are doing okay. I've been emailing them a little bit. We will all definitely be super tight when we are all home. Great group of guys for sure.

Kay, well, I've gotta cut it short so I can go make dinner! Love you all so so so much! Stay strong in the gospel, because it really has so many more blessings for you than you could imagine. I love to here from you, and your words mean the world to me. Thanks for being such great people and such wonderful examples in my life. Talk to you next week!

Much love,

Elder Beardall