Momma!
How are ya? How's
the family doing? I'm keeping you guys in my prayers, don't worry. I'm
stoked to get some cards from the primary kids! I wonder how many of
them actually know who I am... haha. I'm glad I'm still in Masaka. I
really do like the people here, and I'm making some good friends. I
didn't take over from Elder Morris. The only reason they switched sides
is so the DL (Elder Morris) and the truck would be on the other side. So
I have a smaller area now. I walk a little bit less, but I still walk a
LOT every day. It's amazing I'm not more exhausted. I really think
there's some help from above there. I
email Pres Chatfield every week, and I let him know how things are, but he has a LOT
of stuff that he needs to think about rather than my companionship.
There are some HUGE changes in this mission that are happening. I'll
talk about those later. But yeah, the birthday was really nice. It was
good to have it on a P-day. We just hung out and stuff, then we went to
the Frikadelon. It's this super expensive restaurant where all the white
people in the city hang out. Really weird to see. I'm actually like,
uncomfortable around other white people now... haha. The Holyoaks were
gone for my birthday. They had a conference up in Kampala. So they just
got back a few days ago, and last night's dinner was SUPERB. Since it
was my birthday, I got to choose the dish. I had to choose Mac N Cheese.
There is like, no cheese around here, and when you do find it, its way
expensive, so it was really nice to have a good cheesy meal. The
Holyoaks rock. You guys need to go be friends with them when they are
home! haha.
I really am trying to keep my focus. I've really learned a lot
out here, and I'm trying to make the best of the time I have here.
There are certainly some really hard things about this place, and about
the work, but I know I'm receiving help. So yeah, thanks for the
prayers, I really do appreciate it.
The people here. Wow. They really vary from some of the nicest
people on Earth, to the most crude people on Earth. Some people really
are just strange. We've been chased by drunk guys, and you'll see these
really dirty crazy guys walking around. They have big ol dreads and they
are yelling to themselves. There is one out on the road right now that I
can see haha. The people we are teaching... well. It's different now.
We just got a huge change in the mission, where we can't even teach or
baptize anyone who isn't fluent in English, can't read AND write in
English, and isn't over 26. They have to build the branch. There is a
ton of corruption here, and the church really is wasting a lot of money
in Africa by supporting poor people. The people we teach HAVE to be able
to sustain themselves, or they aren't aloud to be baptized. Also, we
are teaching 100% by the PMG rules now. Normally, we would start with
different lessons, and do different things, but Chatfield is laying down
the law. There is no more reporting numbers to leaders, so instead of
just getting like, 60 lessons a week, we need to get a few really good
solid lessons. Crazy. But yeah, there is one guy we are teaching, named
Francis. He's from Rwanda, and has 7 kids and a wife. He's a university professor, and he's just a super solid guy. He came to watch conference
yesterday (oh yeah, we got to watch conference yesterday, haha), and he
shows a lot of promise. But the teaching is so different than you
expect. Ah, I can't even explain it here. The homes... are just like,
cement. Cement and bricks, there's usually no power, so the homes are
dark, too. We do service every week. Mostly just a bunch of digging
gardens. You don't even know how intense that gets. Imagine weeding a
garden that's the size of a football field. Haha, it takes forever. I've
given a few blessings. I gave one just Saturday to a lady who is less
active. It's really sad, she just had still-born twins. There is a lot
of stuff like that around here, it's sad to have to see. I'll teach
classes in church sometimes. I just gave a talk last week, I don't know
if I told you that haha. People started clapping for me when I bore my
testimony... they have a lot to learn about church still. The bikes keep
breaking down, so we are just going to sell them. I'm trying my hardest
to stay obedient. Sometimes waking up and exercising is the hardest
part, because we exercise all day anyways.
I'm glad to hear all is well back home. That's really what I
hope for when I read the emails every week. That sucks about Lindsay's
job. And Halloween... We are gonna carve watermelons, Elder Morris and I
haha. I hope Grandpa and Grandma are doing well. I really need to email
them more haha. You just take so much of my email time! Kidding. Don't
stop emailing me. Please. Thanks for the dear elders, they are nice. I
can't really print anything here... haha.
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