Sick Companion, No Elephants Here

It's interesting how my mindset has changed so much since I got here. I used to think that it'd be a fine thing to introduce tons of money and bulldoze all the cement homes and build a fine new city on top of it, but it brought me to think: What would this fix? Nothing at all. Really, these people don't need those things. They don't even WANT those things. They just want to eat and live and make it by, living simple and unhindered lives. They have a much better sight on the important things than we do as Americans. I wouldn't want to change anything about this place.

As far as filtered water, that's pretty much what I drink. I really enjoy mixing this Foster Clarks drink powder with it. It's way good! Not as good as Kool-aid though... And I'm eating the safest food I can find. We get a lot of free meals, so those are as safe as imaginable, and we typically refrain from street food (except for oranges and bananas, which can be eaten safely). Mosquitoes are kept at bay as best as possible, and I always sleep under my net. I love my little fortress! Keeps those nasty buggers out!

As far as I understand, there are no elephants left in Sierra Leone due to poaching. I think they've been long-driven out. But, we've seen an abundance of monkey. It's way cool! Most people have them as pets or livestock (good eatin' from what I hear). We're planning on buying one this week, and we'll have a man named Bro. Kallon butcher it for us. I can kill a chicken, but I don't have it in me to kill a monkey!

I had never heard about the origin of Bo before (that you shared in your letter, thanks to Wikipedia). There are a LOT of folk tales around here that explain all sorts of things. I'm sure there are many for the name. For example, it's commonly believed here that the name ''Sierra Leone'' (which translates to ''Mountain of the Lions'') comes from when the first people who arrived in Freetown, and heard the tumultuous thunder in the mountains, and thought it was lions roaring up in the heights. After hearing the thunder myself, I don't blame them for thinking that!

As far as packages go, I'm pretty much in love with everything in them. I have yet to try that cheese you sent, because it says I need to refrigerate it after it's opened, and we have no power. So, I'm going to wait on that so I don't have to eat it all at once. ;)

Regarding the hygiene kits that church members sent over here during the war. Jeez, even the ziplock bag that the stuff comes in is valuable! People reuse the crud out of every last plastic bag here, just because it saves 100-200 le. (1.5-3 cents). It's so crazy. Things like that go to good use here. Don't send money, send things like that. They have everything they need, and they have everything figured out. They just live simple lives, living day to day. They don't need, or even WANT an American lifestyle. Sure, they'd like ''nice things,'' but to them, that's not much. It amazes me how much my mind has changed about this place.

It's pretty routine around here right about now. Elder Lancaster has been sick the past two days, so we weren't able to go out. It was cool to have time to just chill, chat, and sleep. But as far as learning experiences go, I've learned that I need to always endure. Two weeks ago was really tough because of how many times we were bounced every day, mostly in part to lousy investigators. But just in this past week, we've found tons of new ones! In the Lord's time, he makes things easy. He says he'll take upon him our burdens and troubles, but he didn't say WHEN. So, in turn, I need to patently bear the burdens I'm called upon to bear, and when he feels I've learned and gained enough from it, he'll lighten them.

Something I love about my mission? Definitely my companion. If we had met at home, I never would have given him a chance, but we have so much in common it's scary! We have a lot of fun out here.

So, regarding the Sword of Laban: It has come to my opinion that the sword strongly represents the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ever since it was acquired by Nephi, it was used in the defense of the people from evil (meaning the Lamanites in most cases). It was handed down from generation to generation, to represent the passing on of the prophets role to defend the people of the church with the Gospel. This is even so all the way down to Joseph Smith. While he didn't literally defend the people with the sword, I find it significant that the sword was selected to accompany the plates in it's place of rest. The ''sword'' that had defended the people for so long was rejected, and the people fell into apostasy, thereby removing the ability to defend by it (the gospel). I see Joseph Smith acquiring the sword as the symbolic departure from apostasy, where a man was once again worthy and ready (and the world was likewise) to again wield the sword of truth and light in defense of evil.

I see it as a symbol of the gospel. You can observe the wielders of the sword after it came into the possession of Nephi; they were all prophets. The prophets were charged with one primary duty: To lead the church in the name of the Lord, and to defend it. So, in times prior, the defense was more literal, but it represents the significant spiritual defense that is necessary. The sword was designated to ''fight evil,'' and the Lord continually blessed the wielder. It also represents the gospel, signifying how the prophets used the word of God to defend the people. As it was handed down, it went through the hands of only righteous prophets (hence how Moroni was in possession of it. We can assume it was handed down with the plates), who continued to use the plates and the sword to defend the people.

Mom and Dad, I liked your thoughts on the sword of Laban also. They're very interesting. I've kind of formed a fascination with religious artifacts. So, I'll ask: Where are the Urim and Thummim? I think I have my own answer to that one. :)

Well, I must move on.

Love,

Elder Vaughan

Let there be Light!

Dearest Family,

It’s so hard to hand write letters to you now! I tell you practically everything I can via e-mail, so when I get home to write, I’m all out of stuff to say! I’ll do my best here.

I'm glad you like the hand-written letters. They're A LOT of work, and I try to get them out every few weeks. The Neves (older married missionary couple) only come for mail once every three weeks or so anyways.

I got the FloraLyte package last week! Ah, I was so excited! The cake boxes were a score, and I ate the Toy Story mac n cheese straight. I've got enough gummi bears to last the next transfer! Thank you so much! :) Additionally, Josh's letter cracked me up, and I really appreciated hearing from Heather. Thanks a ton! Oh, and the FloraLytes showed up right as our generator went out, so we had no lights. I was so glad they came! Our whole district uses them now, and the Sub-9 should last me forever since AAA batteries are readily available here. That's the second one I've received from the family (I've also received one from Grandma Suzi, and one from Kalei, totaling 4). It's seriously the best thing ever to get packages and mail around here. The cakes were genius, the Mac n cheese just might be the best, and I'm loving all the gummis! Oh, I found some Nutella this week! It's pretty expensive though. So, I still wouldn't mind getting some. ;) Thank you thank you thank you!

You would totally dig the theaters here. They are literally huts made from woven palm fronds with a corrugated tin roof. They run off generators, and play movies from projectors onto the walls. It's cheaper than dirt to get into a movie, but from the looks of it, you get what you pay for. Sierra Leone movies are total garbage. I've made better movies myself.

Oh, speaking of the Sierra Leone movie industry, you need to look someone up there in the States. Her name is Mariama Kallon. She's from Sierra Leone, and works for the church as a motivational speaker. If you want a spectacular story about the war, look for the movie that they made of her life story. It's POWERFUL, and highly representative of the sort of things that happened in the war here. The war is a big part of who these people are now. They are a very sobered people, full of love and genuine respect (generally). We don't see TOO many people from the war (as most of them were killed off), but we do have some that we run into, and their stories about what happened. They're WAY intense. I wouldn't say that the war directly attributed to the religious "revival" here, it's just that everyone here believes in God, whether Christian or Muslim, and everyone is one or the other. I've never met an atheist here.

Dad, no worries about not putting in a spiritual message in your letter this time. You think I don't get enough out here? Ha ha ha, not the case! So, this time I'LL send a thought (or a challenge, really). Look for the Sword of Laban, and tell me what you think it represents. I'm curious if you'd think the same thing I do. Why then was it important to provide to Joseph Smith? I think I have my own answer. I'm curious what you think!

I used to think that I’d never want you to visit this place. Now, after living amongst the people as a prince among paupers (and believe you me, we’re living in poor conditions), I wish you could all see what I see, hear what I hear and know what I now know. I wish you could understand this place.

The thing that I’ve learned most here is how completely just God is. You may think that in such a poor country the wiles of the devil would be too expensive. It’s simply not so. You can buy alcohol for 500 le (12 cents) cigarettes for pennies, and other unspeakable items at a seditiously low cost. But that’s not how God is fair. Satan levels his playing field by making things cheap, accessible, and worthless. God levels His playing field by making His gospel absolutely cost and interest free. It doesn’t matter where you go on this Earth, between Africa and America, it’s the same challenges for everyone: Obedience to the Lord’s commandments. It’s amazing to me how truly the same all of God’s children are.

You mentioned that Elder Whitney Clayton (President of the Seventy) said in his talk in Everett that he will be visiting Africa in April. He will likely never set foot in Sierra Leone. EVERYONE goes to either Ghana, Nigeria, or South Africa. Pretty much no exceptions (his exception is that he won't go to Nigeria because he's white (well, at least there are no white missionaries there)).

Josh going to USU? Who would have guessed! ;) We'll enjoy. Are you still looking into a family house/apartment there in Logan? I think that'd be SWEET. Jesse would be the most spirited. He'll LOVE high school.

Nate thinks he'll beat me at Warhammer when I get back? It's gonna take more than just a two year break to give him THAT much of an advantage! I just got a letter from him with tons of pictures of new stuff. It made me happy. Like, WAY happy. If he keeps this up, well, I'll think of some way to pay him back. In a BIG way. I have a letter I wrote him in response chilling on my desk waiting to go out. It takes so long to get ANYTHING out.

Dad, I remember those stories about John Layton hypnotizing chickens! Ha ha ha... You've told me at some point in my life. Unfortunately, I haven't had an opportunity to try hypnotizing a chicken again. People are pretty sensitive about their chickens, so I don't touch them. And no, Butch was a "local chicken," so she wasn't so huge. The big ones are the English Hens. HUGE. Someday though, I'll have another chance to try.

Okay, I got some pictures. The first one is of this kid I saw wearing nothing but a fanny pack (I made him put shorts on for the picture). Then a picture of Festus, who we baptized Saturday. He's so great! And the last 2 are of the funeral procession that came through town.

Well, until next time; Mom and Dad I love you both so much. Thank you for helping me get out here. It’s the best time of my life. Hilary, welcome home! I miss you like crazy, and regret having to miss your wedding (you’re not going to wait longer than two years to get married, right?). Josh, we’re going to raise English hens when I get back. They are are chickens that are 2.5 feet tall. HUGE. Can you send me some potential names? Jesse, keep that bear spray on ya to keep the babes away. Sending my love your way.

Elder Chris Vaughan

Lots of Hiking, Bush Rats for Dinner & Small Miracles

Thank you for sending the stories of my missionary ancestors. I love hearing about the people who came before me. I've started reading a book on the history of the restored church, and it's got a lot of really in-depth detail on the people that took roles in the work. It's so fascinating to read all the trials they faced and how they overcame them!

Wow, Jake is going to Brazil on his mission?? That's way awesome! I bet he's flippin' excited. If I remember right, Brazil was his favorite soccer team, and Ronaldo was his favorite player (also from Brazil). That's so cool! Send him my congratulations! I'm so excited for him!

You’re welcome for the pictures. I have a few more, but this computer’s USB port was torn out. The internet is decently fast though. Only about 2 minutes to load a page, and not 15. It's pretty hard for me to take pictures, since we can't snap while we proselyte (which is pretty much ALL we do), and when we're not proselyting, we're brooking (washing) our clothes.

My shoes are holding up alright. They're gonna be WAY trashed by the time I'm done with them though! We walk probably 10 miles a day. Sorry, not walk, HIKE. It's in the rocks and hills of the bush, so the shoes are taking a beating, but at least they're taking it fine.

The food here is fine (if not disgusting). Most of the time I enjoy it, but every once in a while... For instance, we had eel yesterday. I like it. The time before, we had crab. They were tiny little crabs with hard shells. So, not the East Coast delicacy back home. You eat the (did I say it was hard?) shell and everything. Yum? We've also had beef skin, which is pretty dang nasty. I'm pretty certain I had some bush rat three days ago... Wasn't too bad, I just wish I knew what I was eating. I've been well though! Diarrhea once, but that came to a halt when I fed it a heavy dose of Immodium and prescription meds! I've been well.

Requests for a package you ask? Ha ha ha... Well, boxed mac n cheese sounds REALLY good. Elder Allred got lots of instant foods, like mashed potatoes + gravy or instant Alfredo, things like that. Peanut butter and honey is pretty common to see, and that's really good on the Lebanese bread we can get here. Oh, and send Nutella. That's the only one that I'll actually ask for. ;) Other than that, surprise me! :)

Sister Roggia told us about the Arizona congresswoman (and we saw it on Aljazeera when we were eating at Sab's). It's truly sad. When you look at the rest of the world though, it's way worse off (look at the Lebanese government. It collapsed this week). The Millennium is on its way!

So, you mentioned the article in the magazine about humanitarian service missionaries digging wells. Did it mention Elder and Sister Gredding? They're the ones who head that project here, and Elder Priddis and I got to meet them because they had a package for Elder Priddis. We see those wells all over the place, and it's such a blessing for those who take care of them. There are others though, who choose not to take care of them, and they fall into disrepair. Parable of the talents comes to mind.

So, miracles. They're REALLY subtle here. We work with so many people that it's often difficult to see the miracle in the midst of the work. We have one investigator, named Festus that we have been working with this week. He sort of just joined in a lesson with his uncle two weeks back, and ever since has just been on fire! We asked him to read 1 Nephi 1 as a start of an assignment, and we came back the next day to find out he had read all the way past 1 Nephi 10! Getting ANYONE to read around here has been a HUGE challenge because of the dismal literacy level. He's now almost to the book of Jacob, and we are looking to baptize him this week. He gave up a LOT of sin to do so, and that's the miracle to me. He calls every day, asking how we are, telling us how he's been doing, and asking how to better improve things. It's amazing! The change that we see in people is truly the miracle here.

My testimony... Well, it's the same. I know the church is true. How much can that change? What has changed is that I have a deeper understanding of the things I know to be true. I can see more prominently how the gospel can change lives. It's amazing. If I bore my testimony in church now, it would be in Krio (only kidding…that's such an irreverent language), and I'd share my knowledge on how the gospel can change people's lives. It really can. I've seen some amazing turn arounds (in both directions). It only serves to bolster what I know.

Well, that's all I have time for today. Have a wonderful day! :)

Elder Vaughan

New Comp, Cold Nights & Bo Zone Conference

Mi new compi morta man? Elder Lancaster is great! We're doing really well. He's usually really quiet during the day when we are working,but when we get home and unwind we talk a lot. He's really awesome! Our teaching clicked from the very first lesson. He knows Njaie Town a little from his days in Bo Branch, which is the other area in our apartment. Apparently he went on a lot of exchanges. His Krio is a lot better than mine, since he came straight out of Freetown, but my own Krio is getting really good! I'm almost fluent now, I just have to get the accent down.

I've really enjoyed leading the area. It gave me a chance to rise up to a challenge. I found that a lot of the time with Elder Priddis, I was just along for the ride. I mean, I did my part, but Elder Priddis was who everyone was interested in hearing, both because they liked him better, and because he could talk Krio better. But now that neither of those things are there, it makes room for me to work a lot harder, and become a lot better. It puts Elder Lancaster and I on equal terms, so we both have a lot to learn from each other, rather than me just being trained.

You continually ask about challenges I have here, and I hate having to answer that... Really, I don't know. Nothing seems hard to me here. It's just life as I know it! The Lord guides my footsteps, and makes my burdens light. It makes it easier to focus on the people and to be a more effective teacher.

It's a good thing Elder Priddis is going to Liberia. He was "born" here in the bush, and will have a lot to learn in Monrovia. It'll be a very positive experience for him. My own companion, Elder Lancaster, is from St. George Utah. He's into cars and his fiance Ciera (technically, he's not engaged, but his wedding date is already planned). He is great! He's very different from my trainer (who I now miss very much), but we're enjoying our time together. I guess it's different in that Elder Priddis and I bonded VERY quickly, and Elder Lancaster and I are a little slower at it. But, it's not a problem.

I really enjoy him. Right off the bat we taught with very good unity, and his Krio skills are excellent from living in Freetown (I'm almost fluent now. He has the accent down though). We get along really well, because we both have a genuine interest in serving each other. I guess that's what it takes to make a companionship work.

Butch (the chicken) was pretty tasty. We put her in a groundnut stew, and it was delicious! I took a video of Elder Allred attempting to behead her, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll send that one home... ;) As far as raising the chickens go, we've opted to put that on hiatus. There has been too much change in the mission recently to permit such a thing at this time.

Speaking of change, every companionship short of the Zone Leader's were moved. EVERYONE has new companions in all of Bo. It's to make way for a massive influx of missionaries in the next year. They're looking at boosting our compliment to 100 Elders. Oh yeah, and sisters will be coming in soon. How soon, I don't know. Elder Grabau (one of the assistants, if you don't remember) was talking about this change to me, and asked how I would feel if I was a trainer next transfer. Tee hee hee... I gave him a cordial laugh and told him I wouldn't mind rising to the challenge. It's the truth. I'd love to train someone out here in Njaie Town. 40 elders in the next year = 40 new trainers. So, yeah. That's my future here! I'm pretty excited.

You asked about my greatest challenge here? I dunno. Probably adjusting to the new district. Both of the Americans left (Priddis and Allred) and Elder Lancaster came (my new compie!) and Elder Svongwa, a greenie. I guess things aren't really that hard out here for me. We just walk a lot, but even that isn't hard anymore. We just go out, come back, and chill at the apartment.

Our greatest success this week was when we started teaching brother Philip. His daughter Hawa is a recent convert, and he attends the Charles Lwanga church right next to our branch. He has refused the lessons so far, but he took the first lesson yesterday! His (many)daughters were present, and all expressed a desire for baptism. It made me quite happy! :) If we can baptize Philip, then the whole family will follow.

Yeah, snow isn't too common around here (ha ha), but there was a little yesterday ask Kari about that one, and tell her "Boku Tankee!" for me!). I sure wish I had some... Actually, the temp dropped to less than 70 degrees in the night, and we about froze to death. It may sound hot, but it's always 85+ degrees, and we have nothing with which to fight the cold. So, we shiver until morning. Elder Lancaster and I are going to get sweatshirts today.

Oh, and in case you didn't know via Sister Roggia, we had Zone Conference yesterday, so P-Day was bumped to today. We like that, because Sab's (the hamburger joint) is closed on Mondays. ;)

Yeah, I heard about the Sudan referendum too. We were at Sab's for lunch today, and Aljazeera news was playing on the TVs. Not sure what I think on the issue. It was kind of a touchy place to discuss anything related to religion (Sab's is a Muslim restaurant). We don't hear TOO much about the war here, but every once in a while we hear some stories. We're teaching one man who's brain is fried from the war, plus combat drugs from the war. He killed a man, and is psychologically scarred from it. It's very interesting working with him...

Okee dokee, it's my time to depart. I luv yu bing!

Love,

Elder Vaughan

PS: Picture explanations: The first picture is of me and Elder Lancaster, here in this cafe where I now sit. Then, a picture of my shoes. The one on the right is newly polished, and the one on the left is from a day of proselyting. District farewells with Elder Priddis and Elder Allred. Then, dinner of fry-fry. Man, that stuff is good. Just fried fish and potatoes. Next is one of Philip's daughters, playing the flour game. Our last zone football game (Elders v. Locals). Half of those Elders are now gone. Our baptism last week (minus one candidate who was an hour late).

Trainer Gets Transfered, Butch Gets Stewed & Missionary Parkour

So, you asked about my favorite lesson... Hmmm... We teach a LOT in a single day, so it's hard to pin it down to a single one. I always love teaching Joseph + Mama and their son Junior (He's 10). Joseph is a Hondaman here, and he gets SO excited whenever he sees me or Elder Priddis. Oftentimes, he'll blast past us on the streets, and as he passes, he'll just yell "MISTER PRIDDIS!!!" as he blazes by! He's so funny. Teaching him is hard because his English is pretty bad, and Mama's Krio is even worse.

So, we do our best. I think the most productive lessons have been with these two brothers, Kenneth and Festus. We met them like we meet all of our other contacts: They fall from the sky. Their English is very good, which allows us to teach them much more quickly than with those who we have to really slow down with. They have a baptismal date set for the last half of this month. I'm really excited for them! They're one of the first groups of investigators that I've taught from contact to now. It's really exciting!

We shoot for 40 lessons every week (we usually get between 30-35). We get about 5-6 baptisms a month, but there will be more this week. We're shooting for more family baptisms.

So, transfer news this week. Elder Vaughan: Staying in Njaie Town. That's right, greenie of 6 weeks gets to manage the monster that is Njaie Town. Elder Priddis: Going to Congo Cross, Liberia. He's nervous like crazy. He's spent his whole mission here in the bush, and he hates the city. My prayers are for him. But, he'll do well. I have faith in him. My new companion will be Elder Lancaster, from Utah who is getting married 2 months after he gets home (seriously, he's been planning his wedding out here). He served in Bo some months back, so he knows that area really well. I think he'll be good. I met him while I was in Freetown, but didn't really get to know him. I'm excited to do so! It'll be good to be pushed into a form of leadership. We'll see how it goes... I'm a little antsy about it, but I listened well to my trainer, and am confident that he taught me well. He worked so hard to make sure I could manage out here after he leaves. Aye... He'll be sorely missed among the people. He truly was one of them.

Elder Allred is going to Freetown, and Elder Chikwendu is training a greenie from Zimbabwe. So, I won't be the youngest missionary in the apartment anymore! Woo hoo!! Since Elders Allred and Priddis are leaving, Elder Chikwendu and I are going to raise some English hens in the spare room. So cool... Although, it won't fill the hole that Elder Priddis will leave behind. He'll be sorely missed by all of
Njaie Town.

I won't lie, it's daunting to have to lead things in my area after only 6 weeks here. The bush is tricky to navigate, so I'm going to be praying extra. I have no fear though.

Speaking of, I haven't felt fear my whole mission. I remember specifically that President Wilcox said that "fear will take no place in [my] mission", which I initially construed to mean that I would be courageous in the face of fear. On the contrary, there is literally no fear in my heart. The Spirit has had some miraculous way of removing it entirely. Any time I'm in a situation where I'd otherwise be afraid, I feel nothing but this warm boldness in my heart. No fear. It's pretty amazing.

On a less-spiritual note, we killed Butch, and another rooster we bought to make into ground nut stew. Seriously, a chicken with it's head cut off is the funniest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. I laughed so hard. I shot video of Elder Allred killing his Christmas present, but I'm not sure I want to send that home... He missed the first swing... and the second swing... and finally got the
head ALMOST all the way off on the third, when it started doing it's headless chicken dance. Elder Priddis killed the rooster like a pro though. I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard!

Another couple things: First, I LOVE the handwritten letters I've been getting! As a public service announcement, letters ought to be written/typed on paper as strong as printer paper or stronger. Lined paper usually needs to be assembled upon arrival... :/

It's so weird to think that Hilary is home! Arrggghhh... I wish I could see her... But I really like how she didn't want to leave her mission. That's building up in me right now. I'm sure she'll attest; it doesn't come all at once. However, I'm learning and growing, and I couldn't ask for more. Someday, I'll bear my testimony in Krio for you. ;) (Unless of course I end my mission in Liberia, where they don't speak it. I'll probably lose it all there).

It's funny that people like to hear the stories of the African bush. It's really not all that exciting out there. We just walk boku (means "a lot") in the hot sun. It's really pretty out there though. Not a lot happens, just teaching and teaching and more teaching. It's pretty amazing. I tell you, my favorite lessons are out in Banja Town at the end of the day, because when the lessons gets done after dark, we get to parkour a bunch of streams and stuff out in the middle of the rice marsh to get to a road to find a Honda. It's pretty amazing.

Well, I'm running out of time. I wish you could see this place for "una sef" (yourself). Happy New Year! You're always in my prayers.

Love,

Elder Vaughan

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