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
No comments:
Post a Comment