Salone Football, Baptisms and a Christmas Chicken

First, explanations of the pictures: The first two are of our epic Bo V. Freetown game. We played on an uber nice turf field! Ahhh...Christmas in Salone! I took some video too, which will come to you someday in the distant future. The third picture is of (from left to right) Elders Allred, Grabau (the man I replaced in Njaie Town, who is now one of the Assistants), Priddis, Vaughan, and Chikwendu, the majestic missionaries of the Bo District. The fourth picture is of the people we baptized. Elder Priddis baptized three of them, and I the little boy named Junior. I don't know who the man on the right is... He kinda snuck in there. And the last picture is of the chicken we got Elder Allred for Christmas. Best. Present. Reaction. EVER. ;)

As far as the Ivory Coast goes, we as missionaries are relatively unaffected. The only significant change would be regarding the American elders serving there. They are all going to be deported someplace else to finish their missions, and we are lobbying to get a hold of a few. However, I feel it is unlikely that we will get any. The more relevant news is regarding Guinea, as the border is closed, and there are many Sierra Leoneans stuck on the other side. A lot of people here are waiting with bated breath to hear when the border will open again. We hear it will be soon.

Oh, and the cheeseburgers are legit. We get them at Sab's, at a nice 17,000 le. They come with cabbage, french fries, and cheese on them. So good! The other popular item there is the roasted chicken, but we're making our own. ;)

Speaking of, we're going soon to kill the chicken. We've kept her in one of the spare rooms, and fed her leftover jolaf rice and gari (dried casava). I was really wanting to raise chickens next transfer, but man, she stinks like crazy!! She's pooped all over the place in there. She got out and was running around the house on the tile floor, slipping all over the place. It was amazingly funny. We haven't had a chance to hypnotize her yet though, but we'll do that right before we kill her here in a little bit. We'll video it so you can see it in a few months. ;)

It was so good to hear from Hil! That very well may have been the highlight of the call (sorry, I just hadn't heard from her in the longest!). I can't believe she's going home! That's so crazy...

Tell Josh that Aggies get to serve legit missions like this. The Aggie alumni that I have discovered thus far here are myself, Elder Laneri, and Elder Vogl. They are awesome people! I'm so glad we'll be going to the same school when we get home... Elder Laneri has been out a little more than a year, and Elder Vogl has been out for about half a year. Go JOSH!!! You'll be amongst the best, that's for sure!

Jesse, be awesome. As always. Play lots, work lots, and always be preparing for your mission. And, go to USU (well, you don't have to think about that now....) ;)

Alright, time for me to go get a coconut (only 1000 le!) (Seriously, 24 cents for a coconut?? Life here is awesome) and kill Butch (that's the chicken's name. She's REALLY masculine; so much so that we kept calling her a "he." Thus, she is Butch the Chicken).

Alrighty, my love to all of you! Happy New Year! I'll be celebrating at Sab's with a humongous cheeseburger, if you want to join. ;) Just add fries, cabbage, mayo, and white cheese, on HUGE bread. Love you
all! :)

Love,
Elder Chris Vaughan

Christmas Excitement & Some Real Food

Heyo!

Sorry to hear that the furnace went out at home. Man, the heater here is working better than ever. I'm in a constant sheen of sweat, and there's no remedy. I gave up on deodorant all together. It can't compete. It really literally does nothing. I still smell just as bad at the end of the day, and sweat just as much.

Speaking of sweating, it was zone dinner at our place last night. We made Sloppy-Joes (kinda). It was A LOT of work, and the house was COOKIN'. It was nice though. I made rice crispy treats using the marshmallows you sent (score! So good.) Rice crispies are only 14,000 Le here! Ah! Score... Special K costs like 28,000 Le, if you can even find it. The beloved Sabaugh (pronounced sahb-ahsh) supermarket no longer carries them. Sad day.

Regarding the Hondas (motorcycle taxis): Helmets are rare. However, you have no reason to fear. As you know, motorcycles are unsafe in America because of the number of cars on the road. There are a grand total of almost no cars here. So, they're as safe as they could practically be. No worries, the real danger is in being struck by a Honda as a pedestrian. That can be remedied by looking both ways before crossing the street.

After coming here, the concept of any form of "crackdown" is laughable to me. The police here are corrupt like crazy. You can pay them off for anything. As a natural consequence, mob justice rules here. We don't have any problems with that, since the people here love us white guys. But man, the things they'll do to teefs ("theives") is ridiculous. I better leave that up to your imagination...

I finally got two packages from home!! It was definitely a piece of wonderfulness in my life. We (my companion/me) can't wait to enjoy our Christmas presents! I did also receive a letter about Jonathan Hale, regarding his mission with Brigham Young, sending a letter to Joseph Smith. It was really neat to read. We, the missionaries here in Salone now, are at the tail end of the groundbreaking here. We are the last of the harbingers, and the storm of the gospel is about to sweep through here in full-force. A new area out in the bush will be opening soon, and we will be receiving more missionaries than we are sending home. Things are growing in a quick way around here.

Speaking of, we had a baptism last Saturday (sorry, no pics yet. Forgot camera at home). I got to baptize this kid named Junior and Elder Priddis baptized two others, and a fourth was baptized by a branch member. So, chalk me up for 4 conversions! ;D We were anticipating more, but as always, there are kinks with regards to worthiness. We are expecting another 2-3 to be baptized on Christmas, to bring us to a total of 7 this month. Not bad at all.

The Freetown mission conference was fabulous! It was great to spend a couple days with all the other elders. I met a fellow statesman, Elder Tims. He lived in Puyallup for 20 some-odd years before moving to Arizona right before his mission. He's awesome. Don't be surprised if you see a letter from him addressed to Hil... Gosh, I miss her like crazy. I wish I could hear from her. Well, no matter, in due time...

So, in Freetown, as you likely know, we sang to the hospital, did the whole choir program thing, and I got to conduct it all! It was way fun. We had lots of (REAL) food, and Elder Priddis and I enjoyed staying with the Kenema Elders (Elders Tippets and Mazani) in the mission home with President and Sister Roggia. AIR CONDITIONING!! She made us pancakes. OH SO GOOOOOOD!! We also played a game of football, Bo v. Freetown. Bo won, of course. I took some small video on my camera, which you can view when it makes it home. It'll be a few months until another American heads home, so bear with patience. I also videoed the skit by the assistants. It was way funny. I can't wait for you to enjoy it.

Elder Vaughan

Monkeys, Thieves, Motorcycles and no Running Water

Well, the work is going well. Elder Priddis and I work our guts out, and the Lord really blesses us for it. We had more than 30 lessons last week, which is REALLY good. We've got 4 people ready for baptism this week. We're on fire, and I love it here. I'll take more pictures, so long as I have the mind to do so. There'll be lots of time when we're in Freetown for the mission Christmas conference.

I'm WAY looking forward to going to Freetown! It's gonna be a blast. All of the elders here are amazing, and I can't wait to spend 3 days with the lot of them! The football game is going to be pure EPIC. It's Bo Zone versus Freetown, and we're gonna dominate! Their key player though seems to be Elder Laneri, who is an Aggie. He gives me reason to fear... ;)

So, attached are a bunch of pictures thus far (sorry, not so many with the other elders yet. We've been WAY busy, but I plan on taking lots in Freetown). The first is of me at the MTC, then pictures around the house here. We really do have a nice place, even though we haven't had running water for almost three weeks... It's nice. Then, after pictures of the house, and our drying laundery, is a picture of our pet tarantula. We named her Shelob. the pic isn't real great, but she's HUGE. She lives in the corner of the veranda. Then, the next picture is of a snake Elder Priddis almost stepped on in his room. It was small, and totally black. Wanna do some research for us and find out what kind of snake it was? We want to know what kind of death we were chipping out the door with a length of PVC pipe... It was legit.

It's nice to hear about things at home... all of the people from school and stuff too. That's so great! I'm honestly not sure what to say, just because home is so very far away. I feel like I've been here for my whole life. We work SO hard every day. Elder Priddis and I are called the "Bush-inaries," because we spend all day hiking. We taught 30 lessons this week, which was pretty dang good. We're planning on 4 baptisms this Saturday (yes, these count for me now) ;). We labor all day in the hot sun, eat weird variations of rice, and then go home at 6:30. At 7, it's totally dark, and we can no longer teach. Plenty of extra time to study. I LOVE IT! Lol.

Well mom, I miss you. A LOT. It was so nice to be able to talk to you about anything, at any time. Now, I have Elder Priddis for that, and he has helped me so much. This companionship is everything I could have hoped for.

It was nice to hear about some of the miracles that have happened at home. Around here, our miracles are a little more, minor I guess you'd say. For example, when Elder Priddis and I are looking for Hondas (that's what everyone here calls the motocycle taxis) the other week, and none were coming for almost 10 minutes, we stopped and prayed for 2 bikes. Not 5 seconds after I said amen, there were 2 bikes there!

The other miracles include safety. We've had "teefs" (thieves) in our area the past couple weeks, and the lady next door has been keeping us safe. She screamed "TEEEEF!!! TEEEEEF!!!" when they were trying to get into her home, and scared them away, hopefully for a long time. Also, my health has been good. That's definitely a miracle. Most elders get the runs real bad, or like Elder Allred get boils all over their body, or some other horrible thing related to adjusting. I've just been subject to some rough digestion a couple times, and minor heat rash, but other than that I've been dandy!

Lastly, there have been close calls on the bikes, but the Elders are always kept safe. Elder Priddis almost got smooshed between a bus and another bike, and I was almost taken out by a wheelbarrow of coconuts. As horrifying as that may sound for you, I'm going to remind you to not worry. If I am priviledged to the ministering of angels, then there's nothing I can't handle on a Honda. We are well taken care of. ;)

Have I seen monkeys you ask? Oh yes! They're terrified of white people, by the way. The people here LOVE to eat monkey, and you can buy a nice big monkey leg for 8,000 Leones (about $1.92). This 11 year old kid promised to invite us to his house they next time they get monkey for dinner. I can't wait to try it!

With regard to your other question about the church building and programs for members of the church, the Njaie Town chapel is a tiny yellow cement house with a corrugated steel roof. It's not too bad, but it's DEFINITELY not like anything you've ever seen. I'll take pictures as soon as I have mind enough to do so.

As far as programs go, not any as far as I'm aware. Just the classes in church. They don't have Boy Scouts (that's such a white-man thing anyways. Besides, they already live lives similar to camping. All of their cooking is over coals/fires). The main focus here is on getting people to sacrament meeting, so Wednesday night Mutual doesn't really exist yet. It's kinda sad.

Yes, we have the standard 3-hour block on Sundays, just like at home. It's just a little more... I dunno, way different in a lot of ways. As soon as I find a way to describe it, I'll do so.

"Free Meal" refers to whenever we eat at the home of an investigator or member. Usually, they are EXTREMELY courteous, and want you to "stay fo small chop" (food). Even when they don't have much to offer, they give their all. They usually serve up a heaping pile of rice with some sort of sauce or leaves or soup, and give a spoon to me and Elder Priddis, and the two of us go at it someplace outside. Everyone else eats with their hands. Njaie Town is particularly hospitable, so we get 1 or 2 a day, and we've had up to 4 in one day (that was NOT a good day for the good ol' GI tract...)

We had cow skin yesterday. The texture is exactly like soft fruit leather, but the taste is a world of it's own. Fairly nasty, but edible.

It's time for me to go. Until next time, I love and miss you, and look forward to calling you on Christmas!

Love,

Elder Vaughan

One Month in Africa

Hey Family!

Elder Priddis says that the computers at this particular cafe can be pretty "sketch" (credit word use to Jenni), so he advised me against sending pictures this week. I'll send pictures of my cement house next Monday. It’s dabomb.com.

My one month mark was on Saturday, and I was so excited! Time has flown, and that's the way I like it. It's still weird to check myself and see that I'm serving in the African bush (seriously, Njaie Town is about as bush as it gets).

Feel free to ask questions, as it will give me direction on what to tell you in my emails. Everything here just feels like life as usual, so it's hard to find what stands out.

The okra isn't too horrible. The slimy texture is the weird part for me. We've only had it once so far. We only get a FM "free meal" every other day or three, so I look forward to practicing. The other FM's we've had consisted of cassava and potato leaf on rice. I like potato leaf a lot better.

I think the food is okay, as long as I don't have to down a bone or fish head. Yeah, that's right, a fish head. They just stick the whole thing in the stew, and you eat it just like that. I've made my companion eat them the past couple times we've seen them. I'll get up the gumption next time though, for sure! Elder Priddis and I have a tradition of getting a coconut every time we are in town. We have a lot of fun.

As far as packages go, we've got (just about) everything we need, so luxury food items come next. Elder Allred has received so many stinkin’ packages in the two weeks I've been here (six, by my recent count)! They're all full of candy, top ramen, Christmas presents, and other junk food. If you send packages, feel free to put as much junk food in there as you want, from triscuits to mac ‘n cheese boxes. It's all good to me! Elder Allred got some cake mix, and that will come to be a blessing indeed (we can get eggs and butter, and we use powdered milk). As soon as I get to Liberia someday, I'll have access to a supermarket.

Teaching this week was HARD. We got bounced over and over again, which = lots of hiking. Elder Priddis and I teach out in the bush, and it shows. Our white shirts are brown at the end of each day of huffin' it out in the brush. It's a LOT of work. We only ended up with 19 lessons, and we were pretty bummed. But, we'll dust off our feet, and move forward.

As far as I'm aware, I'll be here for this transfer, and most likely the next with Elder Priddis. After that, it's anyone's best guess. I love working with Elder Priddis, and I will be sad when we are called to part ways. He takes great care of me, and we (and the district) get along so well! We're able to build each other and strengthen each other in ways that we didn't know we could. It's amazing just how truly inspired our companionship is.

We haven't seen the First Presidency Christmas devotional, but I DID see a first presidency address to West Africa, essentially condemning traditions and practices that aren’t in line with the church. It was interesting. We run into a lot of problems with polygamy and the law of chastity. It's a BIG problem here. It awoke my senses when one investigator confessed his six concubines. *Oi!* It's weird to have to push forward from there. It's pretty much safe to assume that everyone has had or has an issue with chastity. It's so saddening.

It's interesting the role the American elders serve here. We're basically "Preservers of the Word," so to speak. Some branches end up preaching WAY apostate heresy, and we have to come in and mop up after them. Our presence alone keeps people from addressing things in the "traditional" way, as according to what these people know. So glad I'm an American.

You ask about Christmas traditions. Well, they're pretty weak here. They eat rice, and dance. Not much else, really. It's lame. We white elders are going to do things good and proper though. We're looking to purchase a chicken from the market and slaughter it Christmas day for dinner. They only cost 20,000 le ($5), and I think it'll be awesome!

The people here are deeply religious. Roughly half Muslim, half Christian. They have this thing here called "Holy Ghost Fire," where the people are supposedly possessed by the Holy Ghost, and they start jumping around, screaming and convulsing. I haven't seen it yet myself, but I'm pretty certain that they are possessed of a spirit, but not one of God. It's pretty freaky, so I hear.

Congrats on Cyber Monday! Glad to hear you could pull things together without me. I REALLY miss working there. I reminisce about it all the time (well, okay, only sometimes, but I DO miss it!).

Alright, I'm out of time for now. Love you so much! I'm (relatively) healthy and happy, and look forward to serving for two years! (heat rash is irritating, lemme tell you!) No worries for me, just love!

Holy crud, I'm way out of time. Letter to mish prez now. Love you so much! More next week! :) :) :)

Love,

Elder Chris Vaughan

An e-mail from the Mission President

We received an e-mail from President Roggia and his wife with with some information about Elder Vaughan and his initial assignment. Below are some excerpts from the letter which may answer some of the questions you have about his mission:

"We are pleased to have him here in Sierra Leone. He has been assigned to the Njaie Town area of the Bo District. His trainer is Elder Priddis, who will take good care of him and help him become familiar with the area."

"You should also know that English is spoken differently here and often takes time to understand. Many still use their tribal language, which requires an interpreter."

"Your son will find the food and living conditions much different. We work diligently to keep all missionaries happy and healthy. There is a water filter in each apartment so they can drink purified water."

"Most of the time, an apartment will hold 4 missionaries with one companionship per room. They have single beds, a bathroom, table and chairs, and not much other furniture. Apartments meet their needs but are not what those from the U.S.A. are used to. He will however, adjust to all of this and come to love his companion and the people as we have learned to love them!"

"Missionaries love to hear from both family and Ward members. We encourage you to write to him often. It always gives the missionaries a lift to get a letter from home. It is easy to send letters through the church pouch by addressing it to him at the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission. Send the letter to P.O. Box 30150, Salt Lake City Utah, 84130-0150. He should have informed you of the newly created procedures regarding the pouch, all letters must be an individual sheet of paper folded into thirds, taped together, and having the address written on the outside of the paper in order for the letter to be sent. If not as described, the post office will return the letter to you. This is due to certain restrictions put on the pouch system by the governments of the various countries to which the pouch is sent. You can send a regular letter or package directly to us by addressing it to him c/o of: Sierra Leone Freetown Mission, P.O. Box 263, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. We hold the mail for them here in the office until someone travels to his area (approximately every two weeks)."

"Thank you for sharing him with us! We are sure he will be a great missionary! We do love our missionaries. The Lord’s hand is on West Africa today. This is a special mission; we know he will come to love it."

President Richard P. Roggia
and Sister Cathy Roggia