Ey fambo,
Man what? That roadshow sounds so sweet. Maybe if you put it on YouTube President Roggia will approve it for being awesome. It's worth a shot. I especially wish I could see the bishop dressed up as Gene Simmons. Bishop if you're reading this, I want you to know I'm proud of you. It sounds like the roadshow was up to Momma Jill standards though (I hope Ben doesn't get confused...).
The office elders emailed us and told us that if you send packages not to declare more than $10 of the contents inside.. or something like that. They said it was because the mission was having to pay big fines and stuff on the packages that were more than that. So yeah. Thanks for all the packages everyone has sent already though! I always greatly greatly appreciate the stuff inside. Man so sweet. I got a few letters from the family the other day- Uncle Jeff, Grandpa Stewart, and Grandma Stewart. I loved everything you all had to say! Whenever I get a chance I'll try and write back! Thanks for all the support though it really helps. In case anyone is wondering, no we haven't seen General Conference yet. Maybe one day I'll get to see it. Ha. Savannah if you don't score a hattrick in every game (except against Lafayette High) I"ll be very upset. So train hard. It's good hear everything is going well at home!
Well, this week was a good one of course. We have 6 people preparing for baptism on the 12th and so we're working on teaching them so that they will be ready in time. But of course if they're not we'll push it. Something very strange happened this past week. No, I didn't get hugged by another debul- I would consider that normal now. It was something much much stranger. I met an American. From Arizona. And he had nothing to do with our church or missionary work. I'm not gonna lie I felt really weird. Haha. He was there with a Christian group digging wells and have been there for like 7 months. We started talking to him about the Church and invited him to come on Sunday. He said "I'm gonna be honest, I'm not going to be going, we have our own Church here." Ah America. You're so funny. He said he had visited the Church before, had lots of LDS friends, and had even sat down with the missionaries before. He said he had a problem with the Book of Mormon because in the Book of Revelations in the New Testament there is the verse that says no one should add or subtract from this book. It's funny that people read that and think of the Book of Mormon as violating that verse. When John received that revelation he had been exiled to the island of Patmos. The word Bible means binding of books. In those early days of the first century all of the scriptures were written on scrolls and were spread around the countries. Then many centuries later King James got a bunch of men together who brought all the scrolls together and put together the Bible. So what that tells us is that John was referring to the revelation he received and not the entire Bible. Because the Bible didn't exist when he wrote down his revelation. It's pretty simple. The biggest thing with the Book of Mormon though is that it's not about trying to convince people with flashy messages or is telling us about Joseph Smith. Anyone who reads the front of the book can see that it testifies of Christ. If you read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon, especially the last two paragraphs, it tells you to pray and find out for yourself if it's message is true. It doesn't say "take the missionaries word for it," or "if your preacher tells you it's the book of the devil please don't believe him," it tells us that through honest prayer you will come to find out through the Holy Spirit that it is a true book. Because who will tell you the truth more than any man on earth? God. So anyone who reads this blog I would invite you to read the Introduction and find out for yourself what this book is all about (You can just Google search the Book of Mormon, easy). And then if you want to know more talk to my parents or find the missionaries. For myself I've come to know it speaks of truth, but like I said, don't take my word for it, pray and ask to know for yourself.
Anyway, we told just about all that same stuff to that guy and he still refused to find out more for himself. Everyone has their agency I guess. Everything is going well here and I am for sure continuing to learn more and more every single day. I'm kind of nervous for Elder Pabie to get transferred, but that's because he cooks delicious food for us every night. Other than that I'm good. So keep me updated on what's happening on the home front and I'll let you know how good ole Africa is doing. I love you and miss you all!
Love,
Elder Stuwy
P.S. Lexi Hayob- Happy one day late Birthday
P.S.S. The pictures wouldn't work, but they were just of a sweet river, so not too much!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Not the "New Guy" anymore :)
Sounds like everything is going well at home. So you got to hear some Krio? Maybe? Yeah, the language is crazy. I can speak it in lessons and stuff well enough for people to understand now though. I put on an accent and speak kind of slowly, but they don't seem to notice and understand what I'm saying. So it's pretty sweet. But then I'll ask them if they have any questions and they'll say a bunch of stuff and I have no idea what to say back. It's nice to have a companion who understands though. Haha.
Yup, we got matching jerseys for the love of our country. Like Father like son (He's my father out here)
So everything is getting pretty much in a routine here now. Everything isn't as much of a shock anymore. And because of that it's always sweet when exciting things happen, like transfer news! Yesterday was the end of this transfer and there were actually a lot of changes in our district. I am staying with Elder Pabie for this next transfer, but Elder Pabie is now our district leader. Which means that Elder Wood has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is to be the next Assistant! He was training Elder Essego (from my MTC) so now Elder Taylor will be his companion and will finish his training with this transfer. So that means that Elder Tawiah is getting a new companion which is none other than a stinking brand new missionary fresh from the MTC! I'm so excited!! Haha, I'm liking the whole me not being the newest missionary anymore. This new missionary is name Elder Walker and is from America. So he's going to have all the crazy changes that I had. I'm pretty excited about it. So I'll point out who all these people are in the picture above because I'm pretty sure you don't know who all these Elders are. Haha.
As far as a package goes, this is what I can think of- oreos (yup I miss them a lot), pop tarts (send like a million of them), flavored water mix (don't they have like a propel kind you can just pour in a bottle of water?), cheez-its, and anything that can easily make a meal with water or milk. Anything more than that is hard to make. A lot of supplies are hard to get. Like even the milk here is just this powder stuff you mix with water. It kind of smells like easy mac. It's interesting.
Anyway, everything is going so good here and I'm looking forward to my second transfer as a missionary! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Stuwy
PS- Elder Taylor has some Stewart relatives, does Grandpa Mel have any siblings living in Wyoming or Vegas? I can't remember where he said they live. I'll ask again. But if you find anything out let me know. Kthanks.
PSS- in case you're wondering if I like my hair, I don't. But it is definitely a lot cooler and people say it makes me look a lot more intimidating and older. Ahahaha. But I don't really care how I look because I never have to see me. But seriously I don't. The only mirror we have is this tiny little bit of a broken piece of mirror. Which means that I see my reflection hardly ever. Oh man life is so sweet here! Haha!
This is what our room looks like. The mosquito nets are a very fashionable touch. You know you want one. My bed is the close one.
This is our parlor, the door in the back leads to the kitchen and the little hallway leads to the front door.
These are the people we baptized. The white guy is me.
This is a fat adorable African baby
Elder Wood found a Krio Bible. This is John 3. If you read it out loud you'll be surprised how much you actually understand. This language is so funny. Haha.
This is Grafton District! Elder Pabie and I are obviously the two in the matching jerseys in the front, and then in the back from left to right is Elder Taylor (from Wyoming), Elder Wood (from Utah), Elder Essego (from Nigeria), and Elder Tawiah (from Qatar).
This is granny, She is crazy old. But really hilarious. She won't let anyone cook her food. If someone cooks her food she puts it in the pot and cooks it again. She is indeed extreme.
Yeah so as you'll be able to see in the pictures, we had baptisms this last weekend! It was pretty cool and everyone showed up on Sunday to be confirmed so we had no wahalla (problem). One of those people though was really cool for me though because one of the women who got baptized was the first person I ever taught on my mission. Like my first day in the field started with us going to see her. And that lesson was the first lesson she ever had with the missionaries. So it was cool to see how someone goes through the entire process of conversion. Pretty neat. This past week Elder Pabie brought us to an old investigators house that I had never met before and it turns out that he was some crazy guy with all these insane beliefs. He brought out a flip chart and was explaining all this crazy stuff to us. Then we tried telling him the truth and he was quoting all these random scriptures trying to tell us why he's right. But Elder Pabie is a master of the scriptures and we humbled him with correct principles straight out of the Bible. Sidenote- it's actually pretty amazing that you can find everything we believe in right inside the Bible exactly the way Jesus Christ set up his church. I don't understand how so many doctrines got twisted. Anyway- like that guy tried to tell us that Jesus was a Spirit when he resurrected and didn't have a body of flesh and bones. So we had him read the end of Luke 24. After he read it we put away our stuff and invited him to church. Haha. But you see, the crazy thing is that he actually came to church the next day! We were so surprised and excited. After church it seemed like his heart was still pretty hardened, but we'll see what happens.
So everything is getting pretty much in a routine here now. Everything isn't as much of a shock anymore. And because of that it's always sweet when exciting things happen, like transfer news! Yesterday was the end of this transfer and there were actually a lot of changes in our district. I am staying with Elder Pabie for this next transfer, but Elder Pabie is now our district leader. Which means that Elder Wood has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is to be the next Assistant! He was training Elder Essego (from my MTC) so now Elder Taylor will be his companion and will finish his training with this transfer. So that means that Elder Tawiah is getting a new companion which is none other than a stinking brand new missionary fresh from the MTC! I'm so excited!! Haha, I'm liking the whole me not being the newest missionary anymore. This new missionary is name Elder Walker and is from America. So he's going to have all the crazy changes that I had. I'm pretty excited about it. So I'll point out who all these people are in the picture above because I'm pretty sure you don't know who all these Elders are. Haha.
As far as a package goes, this is what I can think of- oreos (yup I miss them a lot), pop tarts (send like a million of them), flavored water mix (don't they have like a propel kind you can just pour in a bottle of water?), cheez-its, and anything that can easily make a meal with water or milk. Anything more than that is hard to make. A lot of supplies are hard to get. Like even the milk here is just this powder stuff you mix with water. It kind of smells like easy mac. It's interesting.
Anyway, everything is going so good here and I'm looking forward to my second transfer as a missionary! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Stuwy
PS- Elder Taylor has some Stewart relatives, does Grandpa Mel have any siblings living in Wyoming or Vegas? I can't remember where he said they live. I'll ask again. But if you find anything out let me know. Kthanks.
PSS- in case you're wondering if I like my hair, I don't. But it is definitely a lot cooler and people say it makes me look a lot more intimidating and older. Ahahaha. But I don't really care how I look because I never have to see me. But seriously I don't. The only mirror we have is this tiny little bit of a broken piece of mirror. Which means that I see my reflection hardly ever. Oh man life is so sweet here! Haha!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Short hair, More baptisms & Hugging it out with a Juju man
Sounds like everything is moving along just fine back at home. Everything here is going well too. Unfortunately, I didn't cut my hair until right before we came to this internet cafe so I don't have any pictures yet, but I will take one tonight. Pulling out a camera here would attract too much attention. Anyway, I don't have much time because we're running late today so sorry this email won't be super long. The reason we're running late is because this morning we had super P-day. Which basically means our zone got together for an activity this morning. And we watched Megamind and The Lion King. Man. I've never enjoyed two movies so much. And Megamind was way more funny than I remember it being. Elder Taylor told me it's because I've been deprived of any mainstream media. He's probably right.
So speaking of Elder Taylor, he almost got pooped on by a woman in this way: He was standing looking at some clothes laying out to dry on some bushes and was noticing that one of the clothes looked very strangely shaped. Turns out it was a lady squatting and pooping on the side. So he ran for his life. Or something like that.
The mouse story: We were sitting around the table in our parlor having a district meeting and discussing very important missionary stuff. Suddenly Elder Essego goes "mouse!!!" He saw it running along the wall on the far opposite wall and we immediately all jumped up and started grabbing random things for weapons. The mouse had run behind a dresser and we surrounded it with our random arsenal of brooms and buckets. One of the Elders pushed the dresser and the mouse came running out. It was running towards me so I prepared myself to capture it beneath the bucket I was holding. Then suddenly out of nowhere Elder Essego came running and kicked the mouse across the room and the mouse crumbled to the ground, stunned. Then he ran up and kicked it again... and again... until it died. It was intense. And we were saved. Hooray.
I didn't shave all my hair off. I used clippers and got a 3 all around. It's pretty nice, not gonna lie. Like it feels nice. But the longer hair definitely looks better. It's all good though.
So this week was of course filled with lots of various spiritual experiences. We had tons of investigators in church this past Sunday- 15 to be exact. We have 4 people getting baptized this weekend too. We usually do baptisms here in a river but because of the rainy season the water is too high. That's why we travel to a chapel in a town farther down the road. Anyway, my time is almost out so I'll just share my latest crazy juju person story. No big deal.
So this past Saturday I was on exchanges with Elder Essego in Grafton while our District Leader Elder Wood interviewed those people who are getting baptized this upcoming weekend. We had called this guy and were walking down this incredibly long dirt road way out to the middle of nowhere to meet him. As we were walking up the road a short distance we saw one of those juju guys who are known as "debuls" walking in our direction They all look different but it's basically people who dress up in these very strange costume things and have some crazy demonic spirt about them... or something. I'm not too sure what those people believe in. Anyway, so this debul had this weird looking mask that had like these tiki faces on four sides, and had this really long flowing black cloak/gown thing on, and was holding this rod that was made of two skinny sticks bound together with cord. with him there was a small child running next to him and a lady dressed in normal clothes but had a big drum around her neck. We have been told to avoid these people so Elder Essego and I walked to the other side of the road and tried to look ahead so we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves. Which is pretty hard to do seeing as how we're both wearing white shirts, ties and a black nametag. Oh and I'm the only white guy in like a 50 mile area. That makes me stick out a little. So anyway, we walked to the opposite side of the road and tried to avoid him. As we crossed to the far side the debul and lady were switching sides. So we switched sides again. And the debul switched sides. At this point we were about to meet so the two of us started to walk to the far side of the road again to avoid them. As we were set to pass by them I saw that the debul was heading straight toward me. Suddenly the debul was right next to me and started to hug me. It was like one of those really awkward hugs where the person doesn't hug you completely. It kind of caught me off guard because I was looking ahead and he came in my blind spot. But the second he started to hug me I was like "Oh um, we dun lef." But he kept hugging me so I turned and was like "EY! Lef me!" And he let go and kept walking. Man it was weird. Those people are so crazy. It caught me off guard. Haha. Elder Essego was like "When he goes home tonight he's probably going to tell all his friends he got to hug a white guy today." It was pretty funny.
Anyway, This internet cafe is being super sketchy and slow so it's not letting me attach any pictures. I was going to send you a couple pictures of the inside of our mansion and this sweet picture of me and my companion as the newest members of the Sierra Leone National team. Yup, we both bought national team jerseys. Man and they were so cheap! Only 40000 le, about $10 US. Jerseys for any other team is cheaper, about 30000 or 35000 le. So Cody Guilbeau will be excited to know that I will probably own a lot of jerseys when I come home. My next decision is which Arsenal jersey I should get. There's a white one with horizontal lines across it, or the standard bright red ones like the one dad has. So if anyone wants to help me with this incredibly difficult decision, please tell me what to do for next week. But seriously. Let me know. Anyway, my time is up so I will talk to you all again next week! As far as packages go- let me come up with a list of things before you send another one out. I feel bad because you guys are spending a lot of money on packages! Haha, I guess it's just me and my money saving ways. But okay, until next week- I love you and miss you all!
Love,
Elder Stuwy
So speaking of Elder Taylor, he almost got pooped on by a woman in this way: He was standing looking at some clothes laying out to dry on some bushes and was noticing that one of the clothes looked very strangely shaped. Turns out it was a lady squatting and pooping on the side. So he ran for his life. Or something like that.
The mouse story: We were sitting around the table in our parlor having a district meeting and discussing very important missionary stuff. Suddenly Elder Essego goes "mouse!!!" He saw it running along the wall on the far opposite wall and we immediately all jumped up and started grabbing random things for weapons. The mouse had run behind a dresser and we surrounded it with our random arsenal of brooms and buckets. One of the Elders pushed the dresser and the mouse came running out. It was running towards me so I prepared myself to capture it beneath the bucket I was holding. Then suddenly out of nowhere Elder Essego came running and kicked the mouse across the room and the mouse crumbled to the ground, stunned. Then he ran up and kicked it again... and again... until it died. It was intense. And we were saved. Hooray.
I didn't shave all my hair off. I used clippers and got a 3 all around. It's pretty nice, not gonna lie. Like it feels nice. But the longer hair definitely looks better. It's all good though.
So this week was of course filled with lots of various spiritual experiences. We had tons of investigators in church this past Sunday- 15 to be exact. We have 4 people getting baptized this weekend too. We usually do baptisms here in a river but because of the rainy season the water is too high. That's why we travel to a chapel in a town farther down the road. Anyway, my time is almost out so I'll just share my latest crazy juju person story. No big deal.
So this past Saturday I was on exchanges with Elder Essego in Grafton while our District Leader Elder Wood interviewed those people who are getting baptized this upcoming weekend. We had called this guy and were walking down this incredibly long dirt road way out to the middle of nowhere to meet him. As we were walking up the road a short distance we saw one of those juju guys who are known as "debuls" walking in our direction They all look different but it's basically people who dress up in these very strange costume things and have some crazy demonic spirt about them... or something. I'm not too sure what those people believe in. Anyway, so this debul had this weird looking mask that had like these tiki faces on four sides, and had this really long flowing black cloak/gown thing on, and was holding this rod that was made of two skinny sticks bound together with cord. with him there was a small child running next to him and a lady dressed in normal clothes but had a big drum around her neck. We have been told to avoid these people so Elder Essego and I walked to the other side of the road and tried to look ahead so we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves. Which is pretty hard to do seeing as how we're both wearing white shirts, ties and a black nametag. Oh and I'm the only white guy in like a 50 mile area. That makes me stick out a little. So anyway, we walked to the opposite side of the road and tried to avoid him. As we crossed to the far side the debul and lady were switching sides. So we switched sides again. And the debul switched sides. At this point we were about to meet so the two of us started to walk to the far side of the road again to avoid them. As we were set to pass by them I saw that the debul was heading straight toward me. Suddenly the debul was right next to me and started to hug me. It was like one of those really awkward hugs where the person doesn't hug you completely. It kind of caught me off guard because I was looking ahead and he came in my blind spot. But the second he started to hug me I was like "Oh um, we dun lef." But he kept hugging me so I turned and was like "EY! Lef me!" And he let go and kept walking. Man it was weird. Those people are so crazy. It caught me off guard. Haha. Elder Essego was like "When he goes home tonight he's probably going to tell all his friends he got to hug a white guy today." It was pretty funny.
Anyway, This internet cafe is being super sketchy and slow so it's not letting me attach any pictures. I was going to send you a couple pictures of the inside of our mansion and this sweet picture of me and my companion as the newest members of the Sierra Leone National team. Yup, we both bought national team jerseys. Man and they were so cheap! Only 40000 le, about $10 US. Jerseys for any other team is cheaper, about 30000 or 35000 le. So Cody Guilbeau will be excited to know that I will probably own a lot of jerseys when I come home. My next decision is which Arsenal jersey I should get. There's a white one with horizontal lines across it, or the standard bright red ones like the one dad has. So if anyone wants to help me with this incredibly difficult decision, please tell me what to do for next week. But seriously. Let me know. Anyway, my time is up so I will talk to you all again next week! As far as packages go- let me come up with a list of things before you send another one out. I feel bad because you guys are spending a lot of money on packages! Haha, I guess it's just me and my money saving ways. But okay, until next week- I love you and miss you all!
Love,
Elder Stuwy
Monday, October 10, 2011
Testimony Builder
Savannah, if you are ever annoyed by the uniforms you have to wear to school, don't feel bad because all the kids here wear uniforms too. Except all the girls wear those jumper things and these clog straps uncomfortable looking shoes. And the clothes are all the same color. But then again I guess most of them are just happy to be getting an education. A lot of people here don't know how to read very well or at all
Ah I'm always so happy to hear about the testimony meetings back home. I miss them. There was something pretty strange that happened here though. Remember that all of the adults here are converts and all come from various religious backgrounds. This one guy in our branch must have been like a pastor or something before because when he talks at the pulpit he always starts shouting and pointing. I have no idea what he's saying because his Krio is pretty thick, but I guess he's pretty passionate about the gospel. When he went up to bear his testimony he also started singing this little jingle and doing a little dance. He was like "I'm wrapped up. Tied up. Bound uppp in Jesus! I'm wrapped up. Tied up. Bound uppp in Jesus!" Some of the people in the congregation joined in a little bit so we had like a spontaneous minute of singing and dancing. So yeah it was just like a musical in real life. Needless to say I'm pretty excited for next month.
Mom, Elder Pabie would definitely make fun of me for wearing gloves. I think everyone would. I have to get African hands. It's the only way. I'm sorry. I will endure the suffering. Sister Roggia took a picture of my hands so you might see a picture of it on the mission blog. I have no idea though.
(There IS a picture on the mission blog- see link on the sidebar to the right if you want to see Hunter's scabby hands!)
I have this stinking amazing video of these kids singing a song and dancing but unfortunately the video file is too big so I can't send it home... I'm so sad. It's funny. And I speak a tiny bit of Krio in it. The Krio is coming along okay but I'm not worrying about it so much anymore. I think I explained that whole thing in the last email home. I can understand it pretty good now though.
So life here is becoming pretty routine. The days are going by pretty fast. I've already been in the mission field for over a month. New missionaries are going to be coming to this mission soon. So crazy. I've pretty much gotten over the whole shock of living here, now it's just an every day thing. Oh, I got that package with Pop-Tarts and the boku germx in it. Man everyone in the apartment was like "What???" So thank you for all of that stuff! I feel so spoiled. I got a couple letters from Jen too so Jen- I'll write you back as soon as I can! Everyone who is sending me things, as always, I'm so thankful for all of you and you are all amazing. The missionaries in the apartment are all jealous of how much stuff I get. I'm so blessed to have all of you. Also, the letters I get keep saying how great of a job is being done on the blog so keep it up!
Well, I guess it's time for the story of the week right? Right. So this past Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Essego, who was in the MTC with me. So yeah, so brand new missionaries were sent out into the world. And guess what, we were absolutely fine. We had a bunch of sweet lessons and learned tons from each other. It was so cool to see how far we've come in just 4 weeks. One of the last lessons of the day was very very cool and made me appreciate our Savior SO MUCH. So we headed over to this one guys house and when we walked up I noticed that the guy had a major limp and struggled walking. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that the area we were in was a disabled war veterans camp. A lot of the people around had physical disabilities. Anyway, so we sat down and started talking to this guy. Last time he had met with the missionaries they taught him just the very very beginning of the Plan of Salvation, so we were going to go over what they taught him and finish teaching the lesson. (Anyone who is reading this and doesn't know what the Plan of Salvation is, it is what tells us where we come from, why we're here and where we're going. You know, life's biggest questions. So if you want to know what that's all about, tell my Mom and she'll refer you to the missionaries. Or you can be stuck in darkness about it forever. Your call!) We were teaching him and I was telling him about resurrection. I told him how that when we are resurrected we will all have perfect bodies; not a single thing will be out of place, that any sickness or anything we may have now will be completely healed and gone. I asked him if he had any questions and he said no. We started talking about the next point when he stopped us and said, "wait, so when we're resurrected we will be perfect? Like we will be completely healed- from anything?" Elder Essego pointed to a scar he had on his forehead and said,"you see this scar on my head? At the resurrection it will be gone. Our bodies will be perfect. It's a free gift that Jesus Christ has given to all men, no matter what they do in this life." The man kind of sat there for a second looking down at the ground. Then he said quietly, almost to himself, "Wow... that's a really good gift."
Man! I've never understood how great of a gift that really was until that moment! Jesus Christ died for us so that we could have that. This man was so optimistic at what the future held. The Spirit was so strong and I could just feel how happy this man felt. I myself felt so happy for him. We're all so stinking blessed for that. Needless to say it was a pretty huge testimony builder. Earlier we had explained the things we have to do in this life to make it back to our Heavenly Father and at the end of the lesson we asked him if he had any questions. He said, "No, no questions. But man, it's not easy is it?" Haha we all laughed at that and said no, it's not, but it is so far from impossible. He seemed really happy when we left and I was bummed I wouldn't get to teach him again, but I'm sure he will continue to learn more. This gospel is so cool and makes so much stinking sense.
Anyway, after that spiritual landmine I will now tell you that Elder Taylor (from Wyoming) told us he almost got pooped on by a woman the other day. He made it out of the way in time though. We also killed another mouse. Since we're heading into dry season and it hasn't been raining as much we haven't had water in our rain barrels. So that means we have to go pump it from a nearby well. Yup. Elder Taylor described this place as us living in New Testament times. It's true in so many ways. K time to explain the pictures.
Ah I'm always so happy to hear about the testimony meetings back home. I miss them. There was something pretty strange that happened here though. Remember that all of the adults here are converts and all come from various religious backgrounds. This one guy in our branch must have been like a pastor or something before because when he talks at the pulpit he always starts shouting and pointing. I have no idea what he's saying because his Krio is pretty thick, but I guess he's pretty passionate about the gospel. When he went up to bear his testimony he also started singing this little jingle and doing a little dance. He was like "I'm wrapped up. Tied up. Bound uppp in Jesus! I'm wrapped up. Tied up. Bound uppp in Jesus!" Some of the people in the congregation joined in a little bit so we had like a spontaneous minute of singing and dancing. So yeah it was just like a musical in real life. Needless to say I'm pretty excited for next month.
Mom, Elder Pabie would definitely make fun of me for wearing gloves. I think everyone would. I have to get African hands. It's the only way. I'm sorry. I will endure the suffering. Sister Roggia took a picture of my hands so you might see a picture of it on the mission blog. I have no idea though.
(There IS a picture on the mission blog- see link on the sidebar to the right if you want to see Hunter's scabby hands!)
I have this stinking amazing video of these kids singing a song and dancing but unfortunately the video file is too big so I can't send it home... I'm so sad. It's funny. And I speak a tiny bit of Krio in it. The Krio is coming along okay but I'm not worrying about it so much anymore. I think I explained that whole thing in the last email home. I can understand it pretty good now though.
So life here is becoming pretty routine. The days are going by pretty fast. I've already been in the mission field for over a month. New missionaries are going to be coming to this mission soon. So crazy. I've pretty much gotten over the whole shock of living here, now it's just an every day thing. Oh, I got that package with Pop-Tarts and the boku germx in it. Man everyone in the apartment was like "What???" So thank you for all of that stuff! I feel so spoiled. I got a couple letters from Jen too so Jen- I'll write you back as soon as I can! Everyone who is sending me things, as always, I'm so thankful for all of you and you are all amazing. The missionaries in the apartment are all jealous of how much stuff I get. I'm so blessed to have all of you. Also, the letters I get keep saying how great of a job is being done on the blog so keep it up!
Well, I guess it's time for the story of the week right? Right. So this past Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Essego, who was in the MTC with me. So yeah, so brand new missionaries were sent out into the world. And guess what, we were absolutely fine. We had a bunch of sweet lessons and learned tons from each other. It was so cool to see how far we've come in just 4 weeks. One of the last lessons of the day was very very cool and made me appreciate our Savior SO MUCH. So we headed over to this one guys house and when we walked up I noticed that the guy had a major limp and struggled walking. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that the area we were in was a disabled war veterans camp. A lot of the people around had physical disabilities. Anyway, so we sat down and started talking to this guy. Last time he had met with the missionaries they taught him just the very very beginning of the Plan of Salvation, so we were going to go over what they taught him and finish teaching the lesson. (Anyone who is reading this and doesn't know what the Plan of Salvation is, it is what tells us where we come from, why we're here and where we're going. You know, life's biggest questions. So if you want to know what that's all about, tell my Mom and she'll refer you to the missionaries. Or you can be stuck in darkness about it forever. Your call!) We were teaching him and I was telling him about resurrection. I told him how that when we are resurrected we will all have perfect bodies; not a single thing will be out of place, that any sickness or anything we may have now will be completely healed and gone. I asked him if he had any questions and he said no. We started talking about the next point when he stopped us and said, "wait, so when we're resurrected we will be perfect? Like we will be completely healed- from anything?" Elder Essego pointed to a scar he had on his forehead and said,"you see this scar on my head? At the resurrection it will be gone. Our bodies will be perfect. It's a free gift that Jesus Christ has given to all men, no matter what they do in this life." The man kind of sat there for a second looking down at the ground. Then he said quietly, almost to himself, "Wow... that's a really good gift."
Man! I've never understood how great of a gift that really was until that moment! Jesus Christ died for us so that we could have that. This man was so optimistic at what the future held. The Spirit was so strong and I could just feel how happy this man felt. I myself felt so happy for him. We're all so stinking blessed for that. Needless to say it was a pretty huge testimony builder. Earlier we had explained the things we have to do in this life to make it back to our Heavenly Father and at the end of the lesson we asked him if he had any questions. He said, "No, no questions. But man, it's not easy is it?" Haha we all laughed at that and said no, it's not, but it is so far from impossible. He seemed really happy when we left and I was bummed I wouldn't get to teach him again, but I'm sure he will continue to learn more. This gospel is so cool and makes so much stinking sense.
Anyway, after that spiritual landmine I will now tell you that Elder Taylor (from Wyoming) told us he almost got pooped on by a woman the other day. He made it out of the way in time though. We also killed another mouse. Since we're heading into dry season and it hasn't been raining as much we haven't had water in our rain barrels. So that means we have to go pump it from a nearby well. Yup. Elder Taylor described this place as us living in New Testament times. It's true in so many ways. K time to explain the pictures.
This is from the front door of our apartment At 6:30. There are some pretty sweet sunrises here.
This is a giant pig's face.
This is a giant iguana this guy killed. And later ate. I have a funny video of Elder Pabie scaring children with it. But alas. Another time.
This is a picture in Allentown. Allentown is basically a mountain with houses all the way up one side of it. We climb all the way to the top seeing people along the way and over the back and walk down the other side and through this long road back to the apartment. My companion is cleaning his ears with a plant in that picture. Haha.
This is how I know what games are on every day! There are little chalkboards like this sitting around random places that tell you who is playing and what is going on. They pretty much only follow the EPL. and then Barca and Real Madrid. And any National team games. Speaking of which I should be getting a Sierra Leone Jersey today. So excited.
Well, everything here is good and I'm enjoying. I hope everyone is doing well back home. I'll talk to you all again next week. I love everyone and miss you all!
Love,
Elder Stuwy
P.S. Kelly Landry- Happy (belated) Birthday!
P.S.S. I'm shaving all my hair off today. Be excited for next week.
Love,
Elder Stuwy
P.S. Kelly Landry- Happy (belated) Birthday!
P.S.S. I'm shaving all my hair off today. Be excited for next week.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Juju Men, Bloody knuckles & Answered Prayers
Well, everything is going great as always! Man, LDS temples are so sweet! One of the missionaries in our apartment/mansion, Elder Taylor, is from Wyoming and was freaking out because the temple they announced is like right near his house. Turns out people from Wyoming are really proud of being from Wyoming. Who knew? Hahaha. He's a cool guy though. He and I always get in these super deep doctrine talks and look up all kinds of stuff in the scriptures. The Old Testament is so crazy. But it's so cool. I got the package from Grandma Semmerling so Grandma, thank you very, very much! I'm enjoying everything. especially the germx. Haha! And speaking of packages, Elder and Sister Patterson, thank you for the Mac & Cheese. I already ate some... Elder Pabie thought it looked gross. Haha but I loved it so thank you so much!
As far as the Krio goes- I'm learning a little bit more every day. I do pretty well with understanding it, but speaking it will still take some time. I try to talk to little kids because they don't make you feel bad when you mess it up. And they're stinking adorable. Haha. But the reason they don't teach it in the MTC is pretty interesting. I was talking with President Roggia and talking about how the Krio was going and he answered that very question. He said that what they really wanted instead of us learning to speak Krio was for the people to learn English. The reason being because everything in the Church for them will be in English- the scriptures, talks, hymns, etc. and we were called to an english speaking mission. I'm still going to learn Krio though, it makes buying things in the market a lot easier. Haha. Just an interesting answer to the question though. It makes sense.
I have to admit that I'm pretty sad I don't get to see any conference this week. I always kind of took it for granted. I'm glad I was able to go to some sessions last year though. How General Conference works here (at least as much as I understand, the explanation I got was pretty unsure too), is that we get sent a DVD with like one (maybe both?) of the Sunday sessions, and then we watch it in the branch this coming Sunday. We will get the Liahona which will have talks in it though. So I'll enjoy that. I always loved conference weekend though! Haha.
K story time. So Elder Pabie and I were riding on some motorbikes when I suddenly heard the sound of drums up ahead. I looked forward and saw a group of about 20 people dancing around walking down the street. They were stopped on this really narrow bridge that we had to cross. As we got right up to them it turned out they were "juju" men. Yeah that really exists. There were some guys called "debuls" (devils) in the middle with blood on their faces dancing around wearing these crazy looking bright colored clothes. We needed to pass by them but they were all stopping us not letting us pass. Don't worry they weren't being like violent or anything. More like annoying and in our way. The guy driving Elder Pabie's bike was really annoyed and kept trying to go through the crowd and some guy started dancing in front of their bike. It was pretty funny. After a couple minutes they let us through. Later we passed by that area and they were still there. Except now there was about 75 people and there were tons of people lining the sides of the street screaming out chants and stuff while some other guys were dancing and beating drums in the middle. We drove straight through them. The motorbike drivers don't have time for that stuff. Haha. I guess the Lord doesn't really either because suddenly they were all hit by lightning. Okay not really but that would have been pretty crazy.
K second story. I hand washed my clothes today and my knuckles bled.
K third story. During this past week there was this recent convert we were briefly meeting with and she said that she was struggling with her faith. We talked a little more and she said it was because the father of her kids wouldn't ever call her or talk and she didn't understand why she was going through this stuff when she was going to Church and doing everything right. Sadly, there's a lot of single moms here. We read her Ether 12:27 and told her to pray about it and that as long as she was sincere she would truly receive an answer. A couple of days later I went on exchanges with our Disrict Leader (Elder Wood, he's from Utah. He's super cool) and Elder Pabie went to our area with Elder Wood's companion Elder Essego (He's from Nigeria and was in the MTC with me, also very cool. He likes to steal the airflow of my fan though. Haha). Elder Pabie told me later that when they talked to that sister again she said she had received an answer to her prayer. After we had left she said she prayed about it and asked for strength with everything. Later she was laying down and her phone rang. It was the man and he said he had 300,000 leones for her and the kids. Elder Pabie said she had tears in her eyes when she said all of it. I was so happy! Sad I wasn't there, but man, so sweet. Prayer really works people.
Speaking of prayers, we've already given like 3 or 4 blessings. I really can't describe the faith of people here. They're so good! A week ago we also had FHE with a part member family. We came up with the plan for it and Mom and Dad I think you would be proud to know that I picked Love At Home for the opening song. Then I told them why I loved that hymn and how it was always annoying when my parents would start singing it when I would fight with my sisters. I guess I was talking too fast though because no one laughed. A lot of people don't get sarcasm here though. So that happens a lot. They just take me seriously. Haha. It was a sweet FHE though. That family is so so cool.
Anyway, time is running out but before I go- Clayton and Nielsens, I got your letters but won't have a chance to write back until next week! And Clayton, I especially think you would love Sierra Leone. Man, something about this place just screams Clayton Bridge would love it here. True story. Alright well, I'll explain the pictures and then talk to everyone again next week!
As far as the Krio goes- I'm learning a little bit more every day. I do pretty well with understanding it, but speaking it will still take some time. I try to talk to little kids because they don't make you feel bad when you mess it up. And they're stinking adorable. Haha. But the reason they don't teach it in the MTC is pretty interesting. I was talking with President Roggia and talking about how the Krio was going and he answered that very question. He said that what they really wanted instead of us learning to speak Krio was for the people to learn English. The reason being because everything in the Church for them will be in English- the scriptures, talks, hymns, etc. and we were called to an english speaking mission. I'm still going to learn Krio though, it makes buying things in the market a lot easier. Haha. Just an interesting answer to the question though. It makes sense.
I have to admit that I'm pretty sad I don't get to see any conference this week. I always kind of took it for granted. I'm glad I was able to go to some sessions last year though. How General Conference works here (at least as much as I understand, the explanation I got was pretty unsure too), is that we get sent a DVD with like one (maybe both?) of the Sunday sessions, and then we watch it in the branch this coming Sunday. We will get the Liahona which will have talks in it though. So I'll enjoy that. I always loved conference weekend though! Haha.
K story time. So Elder Pabie and I were riding on some motorbikes when I suddenly heard the sound of drums up ahead. I looked forward and saw a group of about 20 people dancing around walking down the street. They were stopped on this really narrow bridge that we had to cross. As we got right up to them it turned out they were "juju" men. Yeah that really exists. There were some guys called "debuls" (devils) in the middle with blood on their faces dancing around wearing these crazy looking bright colored clothes. We needed to pass by them but they were all stopping us not letting us pass. Don't worry they weren't being like violent or anything. More like annoying and in our way. The guy driving Elder Pabie's bike was really annoyed and kept trying to go through the crowd and some guy started dancing in front of their bike. It was pretty funny. After a couple minutes they let us through. Later we passed by that area and they were still there. Except now there was about 75 people and there were tons of people lining the sides of the street screaming out chants and stuff while some other guys were dancing and beating drums in the middle. We drove straight through them. The motorbike drivers don't have time for that stuff. Haha. I guess the Lord doesn't really either because suddenly they were all hit by lightning. Okay not really but that would have been pretty crazy.
K second story. I hand washed my clothes today and my knuckles bled.
K third story. During this past week there was this recent convert we were briefly meeting with and she said that she was struggling with her faith. We talked a little more and she said it was because the father of her kids wouldn't ever call her or talk and she didn't understand why she was going through this stuff when she was going to Church and doing everything right. Sadly, there's a lot of single moms here. We read her Ether 12:27 and told her to pray about it and that as long as she was sincere she would truly receive an answer. A couple of days later I went on exchanges with our Disrict Leader (Elder Wood, he's from Utah. He's super cool) and Elder Pabie went to our area with Elder Wood's companion Elder Essego (He's from Nigeria and was in the MTC with me, also very cool. He likes to steal the airflow of my fan though. Haha). Elder Pabie told me later that when they talked to that sister again she said she had received an answer to her prayer. After we had left she said she prayed about it and asked for strength with everything. Later she was laying down and her phone rang. It was the man and he said he had 300,000 leones for her and the kids. Elder Pabie said she had tears in her eyes when she said all of it. I was so happy! Sad I wasn't there, but man, so sweet. Prayer really works people.
Speaking of prayers, we've already given like 3 or 4 blessings. I really can't describe the faith of people here. They're so good! A week ago we also had FHE with a part member family. We came up with the plan for it and Mom and Dad I think you would be proud to know that I picked Love At Home for the opening song. Then I told them why I loved that hymn and how it was always annoying when my parents would start singing it when I would fight with my sisters. I guess I was talking too fast though because no one laughed. A lot of people don't get sarcasm here though. So that happens a lot. They just take me seriously. Haha. It was a sweet FHE though. That family is so so cool.
Anyway, time is running out but before I go- Clayton and Nielsens, I got your letters but won't have a chance to write back until next week! And Clayton, I especially think you would love Sierra Leone. Man, something about this place just screams Clayton Bridge would love it here. True story. Alright well, I'll explain the pictures and then talk to everyone again next week!
That's where we live. Yup. It's huge. Well the right half of it is us. The left half is where a branch meets every Sunday for the time being.
That's a snail. The snails here are HUGE. The one in the picture is a smaller one. I saw one the other day that would be a tiny bit smaller than a computer mouse. Crazy.
There's actually a really funny story behind how that mouse got killed but it will have to wait until next time. Needless to say it was really annoying at night but we got it.
These are adorable African children we taught. Some of them are the children of the lady in the story above actually. Those kids are awesome.
That's a squirrel. It didn't bite me. We were buying some stuff from this lady we know and this kid walked up holding it. He said he bought it for 4000 leones, so like a little less than 1 dollar. It was really obedient actually. It just hung out in your palm. I wanted one. Maybe when I come back after my mission. Haha.
This mission is sweet and I'm loving it here! I'm still trying to learn how to do everything without the help of Elder Pabie but it's coming along. Everyone keep sending letters and packages if you feel so inclined. I love getting them! I'll do my best to write back but we're super busy all the time! Well, I love and miss everyone!
Love,
Elder Hunty
This mission is sweet and I'm loving it here! I'm still trying to learn how to do everything without the help of Elder Pabie but it's coming along. Everyone keep sending letters and packages if you feel so inclined. I love getting them! I'll do my best to write back but we're super busy all the time! Well, I love and miss everyone!
Love,
Elder Hunty
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