Josh Kelley is going to MOZAMBIQUE?? Wow. That's SWEET. That's the first person I know from home that's going to Africa! WOO HOO!! I'm so happy for him! It's funny that you mention foriegn missions running within siblings. Elder Allred is one example, where he and all his brothers served in Africa, and one in Japan. It's crazy. I hope Josh gets to come here. He'd love it.
Also, regarding all of those guys from Washington that are going to Brazil??? That's INSANE!! I'm so glad I'm here in Africa. You know me, I'm not one to follow the crowd. I still think it would have been amazing to serve in Japan, or somewhere else in Asia or the Pacific, but this is my place. I really like it now, and I really like the peers I'm with here. If I had followed my peers, then I would have missed out on this chance that I have to meet new people that I now love so much.
Not sure about the mail strike. I suppose I'll find out this week when I go to Freetown for our conference with Elder Dickson. Mail rarely comes out here to Bo anyways, so don't stress that I haven't received anything yet. This week I'll get more info.
So, you asked about women in Salone society: A man's property. Literally. When a man wants to marry someone, they have to pay a dowry on them, which establishes a "traditional marriage" (in Krio they call it "tying kola"). Basically, you buy your bride. They are second to men, and are to obey their every command without question. While love CAN exist in marriage here, it often leaves. And when it does, they split, just like that. Traditional marriages are just as easy to end as they are to start. Women (along with the children) are often abused and beaten when they don't submit properly.
The role of a woman here is to cook and clean. That's pretty much it. Every day the man comes home expecting his rice to be ready. Most of the time, the family will have already eaten and have saved some for the man. When a family eats together, they usually eat out of a huge dish together, all using their hands. They offer guests (like us) spoons to eat with. So, my companions and I have always shared bowls and drinking cups. It's just how it's done out here.
The role of the family is highly variable. Often, it's simply to provide a place to stay. Rearing and teaching children is not so common. Children are even below women, and must do everything as their parents instruct, for fear of being beaten.
Elder Lancaster and I had the opportunity to intervene with a beating that was going on yesterday. We were approaching the home of a man who has been investigating the church, only to see him beating the crap out of his kid with a "cane" (stick). I ran up to him and snatched the cane out of his hand, and there was nothing for us to say about it. Rather than the lesson we were going to have, we taught him how he should punish his kids, rather than beat the tar out of them. I made him break the cane. It was a very... ugh, just not a fun lesson. He's been taught by missionaries since this mission opened, but he's never come to church. I don't enjoy teaching him, but we can't drop anyone. Did Christ ever drop any of us?
Anyways, glad all is well (if not real cold) at home. I'm so happy to hear about all these mission calls! I'm going to get home and nobody will be there! I'm pleased with that.
Oh, I just finished filling up a 2GB camera card (I know, not very much, but it's hard to snap pics here! It attracts TONS of attention!). I'm going to transfer everything to one of my thumb drives, and send the card home in the next few weeks via pouch. Elder Lancaster told me that Elder Moss in Liberia has successfully done so, so I shall try likewise. There are a few videos on there I'm sure you'll enjoy. I took one ninja-esque video of a man dancing on his veranda to some tribal music across the street from the church. It's priceless.
Thanks for the recipes you've sent! If you want to eat a butterpear (avacado) Salone style, mash it and pour sugar on it. I have yet to try it, but they say it's tasty. They also say papaya is tasty, but I think most of the time it's just nasty. It purely depends on the tree it came from.
Honestly, my budgeting these past two transfers has been crappy. My first transfer I had loads of money to spare because I was extremely careful about it, but not so much this time around... Budgeting is my goal for this week. We just got subsistence, and so now it's time to put it to the test.
The best way to send money (don't worry about it yet. I still have more than 150 bucks) is through Western Union Bank. Although, this Rokel Commercial Bank that we use has started with Visa Debit. However, I do not have any cards in my posession. I had Elder Patterson put them in the mission safe when I arrived so that they would be kept safe. You don't need to send much anyways, because 10 bucks can go a LONG way (like, transportation for 2-3 weeks, or
breakfast for 3 weeks, etc...).
Elder Lancaster and I met a couple Americans and an English woman who were here to help with some humanitarian aide regarding these "fistulas" (can't remember the first name of the ailment) that women out in the villages get. I remember Mr. Stallons taught us about that in high school, so I was really surprised when it actually came in handy to know! It was neat talking to them about it.
So, zone conference is in Freetown is this week with Elder Dickson. I'm sure I'll have lots to say about that next week. :)
Oh, and this week Elder Lancaster and I saw the legendary "Guana." It's a lightning-fast lizard that's about the size of a crocodile. It was sweet. I started chasing it so that I could get a better look at it, and Elder Lancaster thoroughly chastised me for being dumb. He thinks it could have eaten me (such would be said by a person that's about as small as that guana). It was sweet though. People here eat them, and apparently they're delicious.
There's this one rebel from the war that we visited this week (he's messed up in the head HARD CORE). He told us that there was this report on the radio about a white man that went up in the sky and cut a rope holding a giant stone (think asteroid) suspended above the earth. Now, this stone is falling slowly towards the earth. We asked when it would hit, and he said sometime in 2012. We asked where it would it, and he said that the report said "white man country." We asked if that meant America, and he said he wasn't sure, but that if it did that it would destroy at least 57 states! (oh brother) I turned to my companion, "Oh no! That's almost all of them!" This man continued to explain that the worst was yet to come, and that all of the earth would suffer from 5 years of continual darkness afterwards. He was mad, because "if something is fearful, you shouldn't tamper with it!" (referring to the white man that cut the rope...loosely translated). Oh it was funny!
I think it's interesting that everyone writes me "pick you up and get you going" letters. I'm just dandy here! Nothing to truly trouble me, and I'm having fun. Sure, I miss home, but that's a tiny emotion here. Encouragement is good, but I'm not down on myself at all. I love this mission to death. :)
Alright, time to split. Love you! and miss you lots!
Love,
Elder Vaughan
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Bathrooms, Butter Pears & Baptisms
Okay, so first I'll explain the pictures. The first picture is of a Salone shower house/toilet. Yeah, that's where people poop around here (except us, we have toilets at the apartment). This is one of the nicer ones. Then, a picture of my desk (before I cleaned it. I swear, it looks great now). Then, a picture of the "butter pear" tree on our front lawn (avacados). There you go, we could make guacamole here if we had sour cream). The last one is from our baptism last Saturday. The man in the middle is Abraham, the one who was baptized (Elder Lancaster performed it), the man on the right is Festus (our most powerful convert EVER), and the lady on the left is Sylvia, the mom of that family we started teaching.
I have yet to try any recipes that you sent, because Elder Boye-Doe is a cooking MACHINE. He loves to cook, and he's great at it. At first, I wanted to play my part and cook every once in a while like a good Elder should, but his food is great, and the things I cook are typically crap (except for those awesome cake mixes and mac n cheese...keep those coming!). I feel like I'd be rude by detracting from his entertainment and by making something so sub-par to his own skill!
Speaking of food, things are changing around here. The mission will no longer be providing some of the things for us that they have been (canned beef/veggies/beans, bleach, dettol, etc), and are going to require us to provide for ourselves of our subsistence. Yikes. Those things are expensive, so most of us will be going without. I guess there's no need to complain, as that is how most of the missions are anyways. *Sigh*... That means we'll REALLY have to cut back on out at Sab's (It wasn't the Sab's that made me sick, Sister Roggia thinks it was bacterial buildup in my system from unwashed bananas. Go figure). Anyways, I've used a decent chunk of personal money since coming here to cushion life a little. This mission is ROUGH, so it's nice to indulge a little. I've used $70 of the money I came with, and I think I have $150 left or so. I should be fine for the next long while. I'm going to start budgeting my money better too. My first transfer I did a really good job of that, but this past transfer I've slacked.
The excitement never really can die here. Well, I shouldn't say that too hastily... sometimes things get hard, and that's when you look forward to things with a positive attitude and pray you get transferred. I've learned a LOT about how to control my attitude, and how to make the hard times into good times. The hard work never ceases to make me tired, and at the same time, it's never ceased to fill me with satisfaction. I'm loving where I am, I love my companion, and I love the people I'm always around. It makes things easy, because the Lord is carrying what burdens we have to bear.
I think now I'll share about this family that we've started teaching. (Family baptisms are pretty dang rare out here, because families always have mixes of both Christians and Muslims). The mom's name is Sylvia, and she has four daughters and two sons (her husband is a Muslim, so we have yet to see him). I was on exchanges with Elder Svongwa from Bo Branch, and we were teaching two of her daughters who had taken a couple lessons before. Sylvia was walking about the house, cooking (outdoor kitchens, remember...think hut w/cooking fires and large aluminum dutch oven-esque pots) and cleaning, but was kind of listening half-half to the lesson. She'd join some reading, and then bustle off to work some more. After the lesson, I just kind of felt the need to invite her to church on Sunday (this is a rare one for me. Because of the number of investigators we teach, we only contact about 15-25 people a week. And even so, we add 3-5 new investigators every week. It's nuts.). I invited her, and she said she'd come (EVERYONE says that here, but few actually do. They like this phrase "by God een powa" ("by God's power"), which basically means that if they didn't show up, it wasn't God's will for them to do so. (I hate that more than anything else.)
She actually came along with Festus, one of our recent converts who lives in the area. She was talking with him, and told him that she has a high position in her church and has no desire to join us, but is happy to visit. Heeheehee... She had no idea what was coming her way.
She came small late to the sacrament meeting, just as they started singing the sacrament hymn. She sat in the back, and kept to herself, which wasn't out of the ordinary. The service came and went, we had a youth speaker, and two adults, as usual. Then was "investigators class" (Gospel Principles with the investigators), and she also sat in the back, and kept to herself. We had a really great lesson on the Holy Ghost, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. At the end of the lesson, she asked what it meant for a person if they had been baptized and not confirmed, and she learned that the ordinance was therefor incomplete.
We returned to Sylvia's house that evening, and she was SO EXCITED to see us! She explained to us that she had been searching for a church like this one, where it's for the benefit of the people that attend. She was EXTREMELY impressed with the youth speaker. It was so baffling to her that a church would allow someone besides the leader and pastor to preach to the people. And not only preach, but to TEACH the people. She then expressed her desire to join the church, and complete the ordinance of baptism. We're now teaching her and all six of her children, who have a baptismal date on March 19.
Sylvia has really taught me a lot. First, that I should DO, and not THINK about what I feel I should do. I guess that's how the Spirit works through me, with FEELING. Makes sense. I've also really grown to appreciate just how much the church is there to TEACH people, and make us better. I had never really seen it that way, and now I realize just what a privilege it is to be taught and learn so much in the church, rather than just be preached to.
Anyhow, my time is now short. I hope all things are well with you. I'm not losing excitement here. It just grows. The more and more I learn the people, culture, and language, the more I love it, and the more I grow as a teacher. I wish you could see me and hear my voice, to see what kind of change has come over me. It's so hard for me to see, but when I look in my journal, I can see that I've changed just so much.
As far as I'm aware, the postal strike is still going, but I honestly don't know. Nobody tells us anything. It's time to go now, time's not so plentiful. I love you so much and think of you a lot! :)
Love,
Elder Vaughan
I have yet to try any recipes that you sent, because Elder Boye-Doe is a cooking MACHINE. He loves to cook, and he's great at it. At first, I wanted to play my part and cook every once in a while like a good Elder should, but his food is great, and the things I cook are typically crap (except for those awesome cake mixes and mac n cheese...keep those coming!). I feel like I'd be rude by detracting from his entertainment and by making something so sub-par to his own skill!
Speaking of food, things are changing around here. The mission will no longer be providing some of the things for us that they have been (canned beef/veggies/beans, bleach, dettol, etc), and are going to require us to provide for ourselves of our subsistence. Yikes. Those things are expensive, so most of us will be going without. I guess there's no need to complain, as that is how most of the missions are anyways. *Sigh*... That means we'll REALLY have to cut back on out at Sab's (It wasn't the Sab's that made me sick, Sister Roggia thinks it was bacterial buildup in my system from unwashed bananas. Go figure). Anyways, I've used a decent chunk of personal money since coming here to cushion life a little. This mission is ROUGH, so it's nice to indulge a little. I've used $70 of the money I came with, and I think I have $150 left or so. I should be fine for the next long while. I'm going to start budgeting my money better too. My first transfer I did a really good job of that, but this past transfer I've slacked.
The excitement never really can die here. Well, I shouldn't say that too hastily... sometimes things get hard, and that's when you look forward to things with a positive attitude and pray you get transferred. I've learned a LOT about how to control my attitude, and how to make the hard times into good times. The hard work never ceases to make me tired, and at the same time, it's never ceased to fill me with satisfaction. I'm loving where I am, I love my companion, and I love the people I'm always around. It makes things easy, because the Lord is carrying what burdens we have to bear.
I think now I'll share about this family that we've started teaching. (Family baptisms are pretty dang rare out here, because families always have mixes of both Christians and Muslims). The mom's name is Sylvia, and she has four daughters and two sons (her husband is a Muslim, so we have yet to see him). I was on exchanges with Elder Svongwa from Bo Branch, and we were teaching two of her daughters who had taken a couple lessons before. Sylvia was walking about the house, cooking (outdoor kitchens, remember...think hut w/cooking fires and large aluminum dutch oven-esque pots) and cleaning, but was kind of listening half-half to the lesson. She'd join some reading, and then bustle off to work some more. After the lesson, I just kind of felt the need to invite her to church on Sunday (this is a rare one for me. Because of the number of investigators we teach, we only contact about 15-25 people a week. And even so, we add 3-5 new investigators every week. It's nuts.). I invited her, and she said she'd come (EVERYONE says that here, but few actually do. They like this phrase "by God een powa" ("by God's power"), which basically means that if they didn't show up, it wasn't God's will for them to do so. (I hate that more than anything else.)
She actually came along with Festus, one of our recent converts who lives in the area. She was talking with him, and told him that she has a high position in her church and has no desire to join us, but is happy to visit. Heeheehee... She had no idea what was coming her way.
She came small late to the sacrament meeting, just as they started singing the sacrament hymn. She sat in the back, and kept to herself, which wasn't out of the ordinary. The service came and went, we had a youth speaker, and two adults, as usual. Then was "investigators class" (Gospel Principles with the investigators), and she also sat in the back, and kept to herself. We had a really great lesson on the Holy Ghost, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. At the end of the lesson, she asked what it meant for a person if they had been baptized and not confirmed, and she learned that the ordinance was therefor incomplete.
We returned to Sylvia's house that evening, and she was SO EXCITED to see us! She explained to us that she had been searching for a church like this one, where it's for the benefit of the people that attend. She was EXTREMELY impressed with the youth speaker. It was so baffling to her that a church would allow someone besides the leader and pastor to preach to the people. And not only preach, but to TEACH the people. She then expressed her desire to join the church, and complete the ordinance of baptism. We're now teaching her and all six of her children, who have a baptismal date on March 19.
Sylvia has really taught me a lot. First, that I should DO, and not THINK about what I feel I should do. I guess that's how the Spirit works through me, with FEELING. Makes sense. I've also really grown to appreciate just how much the church is there to TEACH people, and make us better. I had never really seen it that way, and now I realize just what a privilege it is to be taught and learn so much in the church, rather than just be preached to.
Anyhow, my time is now short. I hope all things are well with you. I'm not losing excitement here. It just grows. The more and more I learn the people, culture, and language, the more I love it, and the more I grow as a teacher. I wish you could see me and hear my voice, to see what kind of change has come over me. It's so hard for me to see, but when I look in my journal, I can see that I've changed just so much.
As far as I'm aware, the postal strike is still going, but I honestly don't know. Nobody tells us anything. It's time to go now, time's not so plentiful. I love you so much and think of you a lot! :)
Love,
Elder Vaughan
Monday, February 14, 2011
Post Office on Strike & Other Small Concerns
It's pretty much the same old song and dance around here, so nothing really too exciting to report. Today marks day one of my third transfer, and I'm still ticking around in Njaie Town. I have a feeling like I'll stay until I've been here six months. That's a pretty common trend around here. Elder Lancaster is staying too, so no changes for us. Our district leader, Elder Chikwendu, is going to Liberia though. Most likely to finish his mission. I'm not familiar with his replacement.
So, the post office is on strike right now, so mail isn't moving as far as packages are concerned. As soon as it lifts, I'm sure Sister Roggia will post it (or you could ask her).
Sounds like it's a pretty crazy change again about to happen at home with Josh preparing for college... Dang, he's pretty much graduated! time passes so fast. Can you believe I've been out for more than three months already?? It's gone so fast. Transfer news came this week, and I'm staying here again with Elder Lancaster. I have a feeling I'll move once I've hit six months here. That's a pretty common trend around here. Elder Chikwendu is leaving the district for Liberia though, so that's a sad loss. I've never met the Elder that will be replacing him... we'll see how it goes.
Oh man, we started teaching a family this week! We NEVER teach whole families! It's so amazing! The mom came to church on Sunday "just to visit" because she had "a high position in [her] church," but now she's absolutely in love with the message. "Honestly, I was searching, and I truly found what I've been waiting for. This church doesn't just preach to people, it teaches them, makes them better, and works together to make everyone better." We're going to her home to have FHE tonight. We're WAY excited! :) It's families like this that make this missionary work so worth it...
So, you asked what I meant about the "I am Legend" lock down being a protection from thieves or from critters. The answer is, both. Thieves have broken into this apartment in the past, so there's that. All of our windows and doors have screens too, so we shut those to help with the pests. They still make their way in somehow.
You asked about the requirements for convert baptisms here. Well, we want people to be converted first. There are no real written requirements like in the U.S., but you can just tell when a person is ready. If they're keeping their commitments, conversion will happen on it's own. This helps us create more powerful converts, rather than the ones we've had in the past who accept baptism and then fall away in a month. We focus mainly on making sure they have that change and desire kindled in themselves.
As far as stumbling blocks to conversion, the Law of Chastity is the number one challenge the people we work with around here. I haven't taught anyone who hasn't had any problems with it, though I don't think that's unique to just Sierra Leone. It doesn't help though that people walk around naked all the time. The Word of Wisdom is a close second, with cigarettes and poyo being readily available. The Law of Tithing is sometimes an issue, but its not one that we the missionaries deal with, since they don't pay til they are members. We teach it, and they accept the invitation to pay when they join. After that, its out of our hands.
Zone conference was really nice. I like it because we get to see the Roggias and the assistants, and they are so great to learn from! They talked a lot about emphasizing the law of tithing to these people to help pull them from poverty, and to focus on finding "the one" (coincidentally the topic of the Liahona this month). We had hamburgers from Sab's, but I can't really eat those anymore. I had one about 4 weeks ago, and got REALLY sick that night (I spent the night projectile vomiting while my companion was sound asleep), so I haven't really been able to eat them since. No worries, that's my only episode with illness. I stick with other foods (see attached pictures). One is of Goat Pepe Soup on yams...SO GOOD!! The other is of "stew" on rice. This is some fine eating here.
Speaking of pictures, I've attached some more. Pictured here is my doxy (anti-malaria pills) bottle after I finished my first small one, demonstrating the progress made. I was pretty excited about that! I also added a picture from our baptism two weeks back, of Sister Agnes, which was WAY awesome! Then the two other pictures are from the top of Simbotown mountain, which looks over the southern part of my area. How's the view? ;)
Love,
Elder Vaughan
So, the post office is on strike right now, so mail isn't moving as far as packages are concerned. As soon as it lifts, I'm sure Sister Roggia will post it (or you could ask her).
Sounds like it's a pretty crazy change again about to happen at home with Josh preparing for college... Dang, he's pretty much graduated! time passes so fast. Can you believe I've been out for more than three months already?? It's gone so fast. Transfer news came this week, and I'm staying here again with Elder Lancaster. I have a feeling I'll move once I've hit six months here. That's a pretty common trend around here. Elder Chikwendu is leaving the district for Liberia though, so that's a sad loss. I've never met the Elder that will be replacing him... we'll see how it goes.
Oh man, we started teaching a family this week! We NEVER teach whole families! It's so amazing! The mom came to church on Sunday "just to visit" because she had "a high position in [her] church," but now she's absolutely in love with the message. "Honestly, I was searching, and I truly found what I've been waiting for. This church doesn't just preach to people, it teaches them, makes them better, and works together to make everyone better." We're going to her home to have FHE tonight. We're WAY excited! :) It's families like this that make this missionary work so worth it...
So, you asked what I meant about the "I am Legend" lock down being a protection from thieves or from critters. The answer is, both. Thieves have broken into this apartment in the past, so there's that. All of our windows and doors have screens too, so we shut those to help with the pests. They still make their way in somehow.
You asked about the requirements for convert baptisms here. Well, we want people to be converted first. There are no real written requirements like in the U.S., but you can just tell when a person is ready. If they're keeping their commitments, conversion will happen on it's own. This helps us create more powerful converts, rather than the ones we've had in the past who accept baptism and then fall away in a month. We focus mainly on making sure they have that change and desire kindled in themselves.
As far as stumbling blocks to conversion, the Law of Chastity is the number one challenge the people we work with around here. I haven't taught anyone who hasn't had any problems with it, though I don't think that's unique to just Sierra Leone. It doesn't help though that people walk around naked all the time. The Word of Wisdom is a close second, with cigarettes and poyo being readily available. The Law of Tithing is sometimes an issue, but its not one that we the missionaries deal with, since they don't pay til they are members. We teach it, and they accept the invitation to pay when they join. After that, its out of our hands.
Zone conference was really nice. I like it because we get to see the Roggias and the assistants, and they are so great to learn from! They talked a lot about emphasizing the law of tithing to these people to help pull them from poverty, and to focus on finding "the one" (coincidentally the topic of the Liahona this month). We had hamburgers from Sab's, but I can't really eat those anymore. I had one about 4 weeks ago, and got REALLY sick that night (I spent the night projectile vomiting while my companion was sound asleep), so I haven't really been able to eat them since. No worries, that's my only episode with illness. I stick with other foods (see attached pictures). One is of Goat Pepe Soup on yams...SO GOOD!! The other is of "stew" on rice. This is some fine eating here.
Speaking of pictures, I've attached some more. Pictured here is my doxy (anti-malaria pills) bottle after I finished my first small one, demonstrating the progress made. I was pretty excited about that! I also added a picture from our baptism two weeks back, of Sister Agnes, which was WAY awesome! Then the two other pictures are from the top of Simbotown mountain, which looks over the southern part of my area. How's the view? ;)
Love,
Elder Vaughan
Monday, February 7, 2011
A Recipe, Some Krio and a Baptism
We had a baptism this past week, and it was really good. This woman is totally converted (her name is sister Agnes), and she asked me to baptize her. It was really neat. I'll send the pictures next time, because I don't have so many to send at the moment. I must apologize for that. It's hard because we're only allowed to snap when we're not proselyting, which is almost never. I did make up for it today by shooting a video from the back of my Honda on the way to the cafe. You'll get that when Elder Tippets goes home in May. :)
I know you like hearing about spiritual experiences, so I'll tell you some more about this Festus guy that we baptized two weeks back. So, we started teaching him from a chain sort of thing. We were teaching one person named Daniel, and a neighbor by the name of Ishmael came and joined him. Later, we went to teach Ishmael, and a man named Kenneth (Festus' uncle) was passing by, and stopped to listen, and invited us to his home to teach him (a place we had never proselyted before). We then met with Kenneth to teach him, and Festus joined the lesson. He was baptized three weeks later. Since then, we've started teaching his sister, a friend of his, and two of his neighbors. This whole new place is opening up because of this one EXTREMELY solid convert. It's so awesome!
It's kinda funny how Elder Lancaster and I joke about how we enjoy stopping by his house. His family is really well off, so they have a nice stereo system in their house, and there's TONS of western music playing (think high school dances). It's nice to hear a piece of 'home'. Last time we stopped by, I heard a movie playing inside (shocker! Most people don't have those here), and it sounded somehow familiar. When he came out and greeted us, I asked what he was watching, and he said he was watching Eclipse with his sister (that Twilight movie that was BRAND NEW soon before I left home). I couldn't believe it! It was so funny to me. He also watched 24 a lot, and watches a lot of other popular western shows like Heroes and CSI. It's almost AMERICAN! He recommended this BBC show 'Merlin', in case you're looking for a new television vice. He says it's really good, and from what he described, it sounds awesome. Needless to say, he's my favorite convert. We're going over to his house tonight to watch The Testaments if he has power (he usually does. We haven't had power in 2 months!).
I was thinking today about asking for some recipes. We have just about everything you'd need to do basic baking, save for a mixer. We get to do that by hand. I made those Lehi Roller Mills brownies yesterday, and they're already almost gone. Those instant baking mixes and boxed mac n cheese are probably the best. Still waiting for power to open the cheese to test that stuff out. Maybe we'll make quesadillas with them using Lebanese flat bread (think pita) and some chicken. I dunno. But yeah, any simple recipes you could send would be great. We can substitute milk with powdered, we have eggs, we have butter, in fact, we have just about anything you'd need for a host of very basic food, minus cheese. We don't have too much though. We don't have canned soup, so we can't do those awesome pastas. Pretty much anything we make has to be from scratch. Any ideas you have would be great! Rice is in overabundance, so anything using that would probably be best. Rice pudding recipe? Though we don't have raisins. Or maybe scratch banana pudding, since those never go out of season, and they're EVERYWHERE.
You asked about my cooking skills. Well they aren't bad. There's 100 + 1 ways to cook rice. I only know a few now. If you want to fix a meal of what we typically have for breakfast, here's the recipe (be careful, it's not very good, but it's pretty much all we have):
1 tin can (a measurement) of dry uncooked white rice
1 can of spam cubed
1/2 onion, diced
2 Tbs veggie oil
1/2 Maggi cube (it's a weird type of bouillon cube)
1 tsp Pepi (Chili powder works)
some season salt
1 can of beans in tomato sauce
Directions: Cook rice (however you want it). Saute everything else minus beans in a frying pan until onions go clear, then add beans to heat. Then, eat it on rice. Not super tasty, but it's food.
Here's some fun Krio for you to try: (say them like they look)
"Mi I no able fo do 'em." means "I can't."
"Boku Tankee." means "Many thanks."
"Mi I no sabi wa ting yu da se." means "I don't know what you said."
"Yu sabi wat side wi da go?" means "Do you know where we're going?"
"I da go now-now." means "I'm going now."
I celebrated my 3 month mark last week. That means I'm 1/8 the way done with my mission! ;) Not that anyone's counting. Til next week, sending you all my love!
Love,
Elder Vaughan
I know you like hearing about spiritual experiences, so I'll tell you some more about this Festus guy that we baptized two weeks back. So, we started teaching him from a chain sort of thing. We were teaching one person named Daniel, and a neighbor by the name of Ishmael came and joined him. Later, we went to teach Ishmael, and a man named Kenneth (Festus' uncle) was passing by, and stopped to listen, and invited us to his home to teach him (a place we had never proselyted before). We then met with Kenneth to teach him, and Festus joined the lesson. He was baptized three weeks later. Since then, we've started teaching his sister, a friend of his, and two of his neighbors. This whole new place is opening up because of this one EXTREMELY solid convert. It's so awesome!
It's kinda funny how Elder Lancaster and I joke about how we enjoy stopping by his house. His family is really well off, so they have a nice stereo system in their house, and there's TONS of western music playing (think high school dances). It's nice to hear a piece of 'home'. Last time we stopped by, I heard a movie playing inside (shocker! Most people don't have those here), and it sounded somehow familiar. When he came out and greeted us, I asked what he was watching, and he said he was watching Eclipse with his sister (that Twilight movie that was BRAND NEW soon before I left home). I couldn't believe it! It was so funny to me. He also watched 24 a lot, and watches a lot of other popular western shows like Heroes and CSI. It's almost AMERICAN! He recommended this BBC show 'Merlin', in case you're looking for a new television vice. He says it's really good, and from what he described, it sounds awesome. Needless to say, he's my favorite convert. We're going over to his house tonight to watch The Testaments if he has power (he usually does. We haven't had power in 2 months!).
I was thinking today about asking for some recipes. We have just about everything you'd need to do basic baking, save for a mixer. We get to do that by hand. I made those Lehi Roller Mills brownies yesterday, and they're already almost gone. Those instant baking mixes and boxed mac n cheese are probably the best. Still waiting for power to open the cheese to test that stuff out. Maybe we'll make quesadillas with them using Lebanese flat bread (think pita) and some chicken. I dunno. But yeah, any simple recipes you could send would be great. We can substitute milk with powdered, we have eggs, we have butter, in fact, we have just about anything you'd need for a host of very basic food, minus cheese. We don't have too much though. We don't have canned soup, so we can't do those awesome pastas. Pretty much anything we make has to be from scratch. Any ideas you have would be great! Rice is in overabundance, so anything using that would probably be best. Rice pudding recipe? Though we don't have raisins. Or maybe scratch banana pudding, since those never go out of season, and they're EVERYWHERE.
You asked about my cooking skills. Well they aren't bad. There's 100 + 1 ways to cook rice. I only know a few now. If you want to fix a meal of what we typically have for breakfast, here's the recipe (be careful, it's not very good, but it's pretty much all we have):
1 tin can (a measurement) of dry uncooked white rice
1 can of spam cubed
1/2 onion, diced
2 Tbs veggie oil
1/2 Maggi cube (it's a weird type of bouillon cube)
1 tsp Pepi (Chili powder works)
some season salt
1 can of beans in tomato sauce
Directions: Cook rice (however you want it). Saute everything else minus beans in a frying pan until onions go clear, then add beans to heat. Then, eat it on rice. Not super tasty, but it's food.
Here's some fun Krio for you to try: (say them like they look)
"Mi I no able fo do 'em." means "I can't."
"Boku Tankee." means "Many thanks."
"Mi I no sabi wa ting yu da se." means "I don't know what you said."
"Yu sabi wat side wi da go?" means "Do you know where we're going?"
"I da go now-now." means "I'm going now."
I celebrated my 3 month mark last week. That means I'm 1/8 the way done with my mission! ;) Not that anyone's counting. Til next week, sending you all my love!
Love,
Elder Vaughan
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