My companion is completely floored by the weather right now. March is usually post-marked with sun, and sun only. However, the past two Mondays, we've had lovely thunderstorms! It's way nice. It drops the temperature about 10 degrees, and helps our well fill up.
It's funny you mentioned the piano. I was missing it too, so I brought the Branch's keyboard home (see the picture). Recently, Ramy (the only person who knows how to play keyboard in all of Njaie Town Branch) hasn't been able to come to church to play, so I kinda have to stumble through it. It's HARD. I'm no organist, but I'm much more of an organist that anyone else here. It's kinda anxiety-inducing, but because the people don't expect much, there's plenty of room for error. So, since I now will be having a keyboard in my room, would you mind sending me some sheet music and blank staff paper? I'd REALLY appreciate that. :)
If you wouldn't mind telling Josh Kelley for me, you can send him this: "Mozambique?? You'll be closer to me than anyone I else I know from home! XD Welcome to Africa my friend!! I'm so happy for you!" That's pretty much how I feel about it.
Oh, postal strike ended like three weeks ago.
Conference with Elder Dickson was really nice. I don't really know what to share about it... We had a lot of fun, that's for sure! We got to Freetown, had some Bo Zone training, watched "How to Train Your Dragon" (SWEET movie!), and stayed in the Freetown apartment with Elders Allred, Ewudzie, Norton, Visser, Tippets, and Adjei. We were eaten alive by mosquitoes, since we didn't have our nets with us, but I'd say that's the only down side to the trip. We woke up to French toast, courtesy of Elder Allred and Elder Ewudzie, and then we went to the conference.
The conference was really great. We listened to a number of talks on a number of topics, Elder Kenner and I sang a duet of "This is the Christ," and then we ate food. Could it be any better? I really liked Elder Dickson's talk on how the Atonement of Christ merges the benefits of mortal life (i.e. after the Fall of Adam) with the benefits of living in the Garden of Eden. I'll have to bring my notes with me next time I e-mail so I can send more details. It was just really awesome to see how the Atonement really makes everything worthwhile in life, and brings meaning to everything we do.
So, teaching experiences are a little on the dry side this week. Elder Lancaster has been really sick, so we've had to take a lot of breaks and head in early to help him. So, this compromises the majority of our experiences this week. I get to serve my companion as he suffers. It's been a great experience for me, actually.
In light of that, teaching this week has been really rough. Missing a day of work makes it so much harder to get back in the game, because you have to reconstruct your whole teaching schedule after missing a day of appointments. So, unfortunately, not so much to report with teaching. Oh, and that Sylvia lady is out of town at a burial, so we weren't able to see her this week either. Double bummer, huh? Our recent converts are doing really well though. Festus and Abraham totally rock! They come to every correlation meeting that we have with the branch missionaries. Abraham found (on his own!) and memorized the sacrament prayers, and Festus is almost done with 3 Nephi. These two are so great! Ah! They make the work so much easier!
I could tell you about cockroaches! Oh heavens, that's part of the culture here. Well, not really culture, but they're EVERYWHERE. Those, and spiders. BIG ones. Every morning, before I step into the shower for my bath, I check for dead (or even HALF dead, which are worse) roaches, hornets (these African hornets are particularly nasty. I'll send a pic home someday), and tarantulas. Gotta love it here! We use this awesome insecticide spray to fumigate our rooms every so often, which helps a little. I also have a gecko that lives behind my closet, so he helps keep things cleaned out.
Dad, thanks for the update on what you learned at your ecommerce conference. If you want a really interesting story on social networking, there was a recent revolution (oh I dunno, a couple months ago?) in Tunisia, in which Facebook and Twitter were the weapons of mass destruction. They completely tore down the government that was established, and ushered in a new order. I believe the Aljazeera news company was doing a spot on it. I think it's called "The Death of Fear." I dunno, maybe you can find it. Never underestimate the power of the social network!
So the Squidoo lenses I wrote are still bringing in money? Good to know that my work was worth the investment! I was pretty skeptical of those lenses, and how well they would help the company.
So, no worries about the whole "trunkiness" thing. My companion is engaged, and he watches videos of his family that they send him all the time. I don't get too bad, but my companion doesn't help with that one! Ha ha ha. Mom keeps saying that I look really good in Sister Roggia's pictures. Should I tell her that if anything, I've GAINED weight here? Seriously, I haven't changed at all. You'd think I would with all the exercise I get, but I guess not...
I think a a lot about the Tokyo House sushi dinner we had before I left home. People will ask what kinds of food that I like that are exclusive to where I live. I usually lean on the pan-Asian aspect of Washington to reply, so people think I eat lots of weird stuff. Well, I guess we do, but... Ha ha ha, those were good times! Unfortunately, it's not safe to eat anything raw here. You know what? We passed our first mango stand today! Well, we saw some in Freetown, but this one is just up the street from our house! Not sure on the price at the moment, but I'm guessing 1,000 Le a pop. We're passing back there on the way home. Who's excited? Me. :) It makes me think of you Dad every time I see ripe mangoes in the trees. I just know how much you'd love to be here for them.
Speaking of you being here, I know that I said before that I didn't want anyone to come pick me up, but now... Well, if anyone wants to come and pick me up from my mission in 1.5+ years, you're more than welcome. I think that'd be an incredible experience for whomever would get to come. I guess I just want you to know that I'm open to the idea now.
Oh, I saw another Phantom of the Opera shirt yesterday. It was one of those ones that costs $50 at home. One of these days, I'll just buy the shirt off of the person's back! Ha ha ha.
Alrighty, time to jet.
Love,
Elder Vaughan
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