Well, I gave myself a haircut today, and my clippers broke. I tried fixing it, and it just broke more. Ugh! I'm so ticked! So, you don't necessarily need to send another, but... Gosh, I'm just mad about that. I know things aren't cheap, and to send them to me isn't cheap either. I can survive if you don't send another. But, if you do, you can send a plug-in one if it's cheaper. Second (and this is the one that scares me), my camera might be busted. I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong. It just won't turn on, but it's all charged. When I plug it into the computer, it identifies that a camera is plugged in, but it doesn't appear anywhere or allow me to take any action with it. I tried fiddling with the battery, and I don't think that's it. The only thing left to try is the memory card, which I'll test when I get home. I'll be so crushed if all of my videos and pictures were lost. Oh, that would break my heart. So, I don't know what to do about that yet. I might be able to buy one here if I had to, but we can wait a week on it. UGH!! Text doesn't adequately express my frustration. This camera is so nice.
Also, envelopes are a bad idea to send me. They seal themselves in the humidity. I used the ones I received just fine, but just know that they are affordable and I can find them here. I could use some more razors though, because nice ones are expensive like nothing and mine are all gone. I think that's all... Thanks!
So, on to other things. Guess where I'm not? Messima. Guess where I am? Njaie Town. One investigator in the branch decided to use her agency poorly and tell Elder Bennion that she was in love with him. Well, when that happens, we have two choices: Cut off all contact with the person, or transfer. Elder Bennion opted to transfer so that I can continue to teach her because she is doing extremely well, and wants to be baptized. If we cut off contact, it means that she likely would never have that chance in this branch. So, Elder Bennion made the noble leap of faith and went to Messima in my place, and now I'm training a new missionary in his place.
This means that I will have stayed in this branch longer than any missionary who has ever served here. Training in this mission is typically a 3 month process, so that means I'll be here another two transfers. Crazy, eh? I don't mind, because this is the sweetest branch in Bo. Training is a lot of fun. My companion is Elder Esiaba from Nigeria, and he's powerful. He makes training really easy, because he's talented and smart. He already knows a Nigerian pigeon language that's very similar to Krio, so I don't have to worry about helping him with that too much, and he's very familiar with West African life (obviously) so I don't have to help him with culture shock too much.
I would love to take and send some pictures, but that could be quite some time in the future. Yeah, not much else to say about that, because he only recently came on Thursday, but things are going very well, and training is a piece of pie right now. Oh, I miss pie. If you could somehow send me one, that would be the best thing ever. ;)
Oh yeah, I also had a small case of Malaria last week. Uh, fate worse than death, let me tell you. I spent four days wanting to just die. Plenty of vomiting, diarrhea, migraine headaches, and other unpleasant symptoms. I finished my last dosage of treatment two nights ago, and I feel pretty much fine now. Malaria is ROUGH. Looking back, it was a good experience to help me relate to the early saints who were dying of the disease in Nauvoo. Oh man, when you get sick with it, you really are dying. You can't do ANYTHING besides suffer. I'm still trying to figure out how I got it, because I sleep under my net every night, I take doxy, so it could very well be just because I live in Africa. It's a fact of life here. But yeah, don't worry about it, because I'm being obedient, and the Lord is watching over me.
I finally got to see Elder Priddis again this week! I can't even tell you how excited I was. He was just as excited to see me. It was just so... neat. He left me after serving in Njaie Town for 5 transfers, and he left to Liberia and then Freetown for a total of 6 months before seeing me again. When he saw me, I had been serving as long as he had in the branch, and I myself am training. It was such a cool moment to see him again to be able to discuss the branch, and how things are going. Elder Priddis told me he dreams about this branch every night. Ha ha ha, oh Njaie Town. He served here longer than anywhere else, so that's pretty natural. I wonder if my extended service here in this branch will screw up my perceptions of other branches I have to serve in in the future. I guess that remains to be seen.
We received 4 new missionaries to this zone, so half of the preexisting elders are training. Elder Stott is training an American, and he's the first green American I've seen since arriving in Sierra Leone! It was so weird. It really shows you how far you go in such a short time on mission. Those two will be coming over for some monopoly and cake this afternoon, so I look forward to it.
Dad, it's good to hear about things in the Armar Branch back home. I miss the branch like crazy. I'm so proud of Nino for serving a mission. It truly is the greatest time of a young man's life. When it comes time to return home, I'll be so heartbroken.
Dad, it's interesting that you mention of being kind as a missionary. Sometimes there are those who are not as kind as they should be. I mean, they're not really a problem, but they can be unfriendly at times. It's kind of sad, because as a servant of the Lord, a person ought not to be so. I do my best to be as perky and happy and loving as possible, and it makes my relationships with everyone here meaningful and positive. I have yet to meet a missionary that I've had a disagreement with. It's a lot of fun to be here with these people.
Please enjoy your summer!
Love,
Elder Vaughan
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