Transfer News & Learning More Than Possibly Imagined

Hello family!
 
Well the week was a good one. I just looked at all those pictures of
your room- what! So different. It looks super good though, I like it.
You can tell Sister Wuertenberg I've gotten a letter from them in the
last little while. Just one. I'm glad to hear the Latrini's haven't
died yet, hopefully no one will break their hip this time (boom
roasted). Maui sounds, well, extremely nice. Wouldn't mind to find
myself there at some point in the future. Haha.
 
Anyway, the big news for the week is that we got transfer news this
past week and I'm getting transferred! My new area is called Rokel and
I'm super super super excited to go there because that area meets in
the Kossoh Town branch! In case you forgot, my first area on mission
was Kossoh Town, so it means that my converts from the beginning of my
mission, I'll be able to see them again! I was so stinking excited
when I found out that I would be going there. That was actually my
hope, that I would one day be able to go there. Another big surprise
was that I'll be a zone leader still and that I'll be opening a new
zone. It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is. Really all that
happened is that the Freetown East Zone split in two and me and my
companion will be the zone leaders for the new Waterloo zone. Rokel is
between Kossoh Town and a small town known as Waterloo just outside of
Freetown. Anyway, I'm really excited to be going there and see what
will happen next. There's still a lot more work to do. This last week
was pretty good, we had our zone meeting on Tuesday and focused a lot
on the development of the individual and on becoming better people. I
honestly don't know what I'd be like if I wouldn't have gotten this
chance to come here. I'm definitely learning more things than I could
have possibly imagined. One sweet thing that happened this week was
that this nice little family we met (gotta get the parents married
first), all came to church! They all are really happy and even the
last time we saw the wife she said that she wanted to be baptized and
beginning coming to church. I'm hoping to hear all about it. I'm sad
to be leaving Lewabu but I know there's more people who I need to see
in Rokel! My last Sunday there I was just looking around the chapel
and saw all the people I had taught sitting in church and I just felt
blessed to have been able to serve here as long as I did. Anyway, the
work is sweet and next week I'll be back to the bustle of Freetown! I
love all of you so much!
 
Love,
Elder Stewart

Zone Conference, Super P-day & Egg Hunt

Hey family,
 
Well this last week was absolutely crazy. On Tuesday we had a Zone
Conference with President Roggia and Elder Burton and I gave a small
instruction about enduring to the end. We pretty much just invited
everyone to keep showing love to their recent converts and to continue
teaching them even after baptism. We also invited them to write some
of them letters. That's something I'm going to try and do before I go
home- write all of my converts a letter. It's hard because we get so
busy and its hard to even find time to write my friends letters
sometimes! But I'll do my best. After the zone conference we had zone
leader council with President Roggia which is basically just a meeting
with him and he gives us some information about what's going on in the
mission and what we need to be focusing on in our zone and things
like that. He also gives us a topic of something to talk about at our
next zone meeting which is always the following Tuesday (tomorrow). So
we've been trying to work that one out. On Wednesday we went to Kenema
and I got to go with the Simbeck Elders so I saw some of the people I
taught and a couple of converts while I was there so that was pretty
sweet. I would give anything to go back to Kenema, man that place is
sweet! Thursday we traveled back to Bo and started to work on the Zone
Meeting instruction and getting things in place to have a super p-day
on Monday (today). Friday was a regular day and we got things prepared
for a baptism the next day. Saturday we had a baptism for one of the
SWEETEST people ever; I think I talked about him last week. The
service was really nice and the next day, Sunday, everything went
smoothly for his confirmation. Something sweet that happened was that
on Sunday this family that we just started teaching came to church.
Well, half of them anyway. The man is a muslim so he didn't come, but
his wife and three of their kids came. So that was pretty sweet. It's
kind of funny because the man told us he would come and the woman just
kept avoiding the question and never really answered us. Maybe she
just wasn't sure. Haha. We'll be trying to see them this week. Today
was a pretty sweet day too because we had that Super P-day. All the
Elders from Kenema came to Bo and will be here until tomorrow after
Zone Meeting. For the super P-day we boiled some eggs and had everyone
decorate them with markers and write their favorite scripture on it.
Then while everyone left, Elder Burton and I hid them around the
compound. Then we all went and played a nice game of football. It was
pretty sweet and I scored a nice goal off a volley. So that was pretty
exciting. Then we all went back to the compound and everyone found the
eggs and everyone shared their scripture and shared their testimony.
Then we all ended up by eating a nice big bowl of jollof rice. No
problem. Its been a pretty successful day so far and we're looking to
have a nice FHE this evening and a nice zone meeting tomorrow. So
hopefully everything will go well! Anyway, I'm glad everything is
going well at home and I'll be looking for those pictures! And a big
thank you to aunt jen! I got the package this past week and I think
all the candy is gone already. Haha. And don't worry, the tortillas
didn't mold over. So THANK YOU. Oh, and if its not too late, if it
would be possible to add some slap ya momma or tony's to the package
that would be sweet. Anyway, thank you for everything! I love you and
I'll talk to you next week!
 
Love,
Elder Stewart

  Baptism from the 16th!

Baptism from the 23rd!

 

Kids wearing sweet clothes.

 My MTC Elder Wuthrich on our 18th month mark!

 Guinea pigs from Guinea.

 Can you identify this snake for me?

 Baptism from this past weekend, the 2nd.

 I've been wanting to take a picture like this for a long time. I

always imagined it saying something inspirational at the bottom like
"Dream Big"... haha don't worry I'm still thinking about all this
cheesy artsy optimistic business.

                                  Super P-day!
 

Answers to Random Questions Part 2

These are the random questions I asked Hunter:

1-Pirates or Ninjas? Why?
2-Have you eaten any rice in the last week? If so, what flavor?
3-Where did you catch that snake in the pot? and what kind was it? It looked pretty wimpy compared to the snakes in the Shed of Horrors!
4-Have you seen any other creepy creatures lurking about?
5-Do you have any requests for the package I am sending you next week? Let me know!!!!!

Hello family!
 
Sounds like it was a great week. We had a nice baptism this past week
and have just been focusing on finding sweet people. We're hoping for
some super sweet miracles. This one guy we've been teaching got
interviewed and will be baptizing this week. I think I talked about
him last week. Basically he has a super strong testimony and just
loves coming to church. It was too bad to hear about LHS. It's about
time they bring a championship in. I don't have a lot of time so I'll
answer your questions quick. Oh, but before I do we have zone
conference tomorrow and it's all about enduring to the end. My
companion and I have to give an instruction in it so we're hoping it
will go well. I've gotten a lot more used to doing that kind of stuff
now. It should hopefully help a lot when I go back! So the first
question- Ninjas. Because I see them here all the time. 

Second- I've eaten rice every single day. Not even kidding.
I had fried rice last night, ground nut soup some other nights, and
pumpkin! I've learned how to cook pumpkin and make a tasty little
sauce to put on the rice. So I'll try and make it for you all one day.
That snake was lurking inside the senior couples apartment. I cut its
head off. We found a 2 foot one in our compound the other day. I'll
send a picture next week. I've been having a small problem with the
memory card but don't worry it's not serious. I can fix it. Fourth,
any creepy creatures? Not that I can think of. They have some crazy
looking lizards that are always around. They look like little dragons.
Kind of cool. And finally, as far as a package goes, something that
would be sweet would be another 8 gb memory card. The one I have is
about to fill up and I think one more would be perfect. And of course,
sweet stuff like Oreos and those kinds of things. Haha. Anyway, I love
all you so much and will talk to you next week! Sorry this letter is
so lame!
 
Love,
Elder Stewart

What is Cold?, Football & Nothing Absolutely Insane

Hello again,
 
Man I'm super jealous of the Nauvoo trip. I definitely want to go see
all of those things when I get back. It was weird to hear about it
being cold outside. I'm literally going to die. I don't know what cold
is again! This week was pretty good. We had a baptism last Saturday.
We also played football today! So that was fun. We don't keep score
because we don't want the game to be competitive... but we totally won
6-4. Haha.
 
Well, this week was pretty normal. Nothing absolutely insane happened.
This one guy we're teaching has been really excited about everything
we've been teaching him and knows its true, but he has missed church
for the last two Sundays. He has a really crazy work schedule that has
him working from 7pm-7am on Saturday evenings to Sunday mornings. The
last time we saw him we taught him about the Law of Chastity which is
something he has been struggling with. We helped him to see its
importance and what he can do in his life to begin keeping the
commandment. He said he would do it and this Sunday he came to church!
He was super tired because church starts at 9, but he stayed for the
whole thing and contributed a lot in class. It was pretty cool. I also
found out that one of my converts has been going to institute every
week and giving the teacher boku problems with his questions. So
sweet! Haha. It's not easy trying to get the church working the way
its supposed to. The church isn't even close to the way its supposed
to be or like how it is back home. It just made me laugh when you said
you had a stake council meeting because I'm pretty sure that one has
never happened here. Anyway, everything is going good! We have a zone
conference next week Tuesday so I'll be looking out for some of those
packages people have said they sent me! I love all you and will talk
to you next week!
 
Love,
Elder Stewart

Moroni 10:3-5

Hello family,
 
Well this last week was pretty much the worst week of my entire life.
. . okay, not really. It was super sweet as always. One reason was
because... we had a baptism! Woo. These people were super sweet too.
Remember the convert that got married last December? His daughter got
baptized and her cousin (who stays in the same house). Also a guy that
started investigating the church over a year ago, and the best friend
of one of the ladies we baptized on the 26th. It's pretty crazy how
fast people's lives can change! Most of the last week was spent with
us trying to find people to teach. Well, it's easy to find people to
teach, it's hard to find to the people who are ready to change their
lives. So that's what we spent the week looking for. We also spent a
lot of time working on a zone meeting we have going on tomorrow. We're
focusing a lot on trusting in the promises given to us by the Lord.
Like the promise in Moroni 10:3-5. We need to have more faith that the
Lord will answer people who are seeking for answers from him. We need
to have more faith that when we invite someone to pray and ask Him
about the things we teach them, that he will answer them and tell them
they are true. We need to have faith that the Spirit can testify and
teach them that what we are saying is right. We've been pretty busy
but we're looking forward to the next week. Anyway, I hope you guys
have a good time in Nauvoo! Tell me how it goes!
 
Love,
Elder Stewart
 
PS- Aunt Jen- Happy Birthday!

Transfer News, Living in the 1800's & A Crazy Australian Lady

Hellooooooo family,
 
Africa is here. No worries. We did finally get transfer news and I'm
still in Lewabu with Elder Burton. That's super sweet though because
it's exactly what I wanted! I'm a pretty happy camper here. I'm
guessing that I'll be out of here at the end of this next transfer but
we'll see what happens, still plenty of work to do before then. It'll
definitely be exciting to see all the changes in the house. I'll bet
it looks pretty sweet. A family trip to Nauvoo would be pretty
stinking nice... I want to see all those church history places! Also,
I just want to tell the Nielsen's that I miss them! And Big Black.....
WRITE ME BACK MAN! There's a bucketful of noonas I'll be wanting to
hear from you. So send me all the juicy ones.
 
I was thinking about some stuff the other day and I realized that the
culture here is like people living in the 1800s but then there's cell
phones and modern cars. But in many ways it's similar. Women spend
their entire lives in the house washing clothes on washboards, cutting
wood, cooking over an open fire, taking care of children, etc. The men
usually have hard labor jobs and are busy with that all the time. The
houses are made out of mudblocks and sticks, or this combination of
sand, rocks. and small cement. The roofs are all with thin pieces of
zinc. It's kind of a weird mix of modern and old. No problem though.
The work here is sweet and I'm definitely blessed to have been called
to this mission. One missionary just got an update about his friend
who is serving in Korea- the guy has been out for 6 months and
yesterday was the first time they've had an investigator come to
church. I think my first Sunday there were 10 investigators in church.
Definitely spoiled to be here. We're even supposed to be having a
baptism this weekend. Speaking of being spoiled, this last week
something really crazy happened. Last Tuesday we went to Kenema to do
interviews and trainings. The next day, Wednesday, we were standing in
this big car park where you get in vans to travel between Kenema and
Bo. Basically it's a big dirt field and people are walking around
selling things and there are cars everywhere and people trying to get
you to get in the car whether you want to go to where they're going or
not. Anyway, we went to the place that the vans are going to Bo and
the one they were filling up had only one space so we were standing to
the side waiting for the next van to come. While we were standing
there this guy looked at us and asked us what country we were coming
from. We told him we were from the US and he just looked at us for a
second. Then he said "You guys should just get out of this country
because you're not doing anything to help it." Then he went and sat in
the van. We were super confused and a little offended so we walked
over to him and asked him what his name was. He got out and told us
that he wasn't going to tell us his name and he wanted us to get out
of his way and go away. While he was saying all this, a white lady
stuck her head out of the passenger seat of the van and said "You
people just want money! Money, money, money! You divide families and
ruin lives!" Then she stuck her head in the van and the guy sat inside
the van again. At this point we were just incredibly confused and
didn't really know what was going on so we just stood there and left
it because we didn't want to make a scene. One more person finally
came and the van started closing all the doors and getting ready to
depart. Just before leaving the white lady gets out and walked up to
us. Before we could say anything she told us we were terrible people
and needed to get out of Africa because we're just taking money and
dividing families (again). She also said that we needed to leave her
own people alone and stop ruining everyone's lives. We asked her where
she was from and she said Australia and started walking away. We asked
her if she knew what church we were from and she was just like, "Oh, I
KNOW your church." Then she slammed the door and they drove away....
what?? We were so taken aback and confused. I guess she didn't know
that we have to pay for ourselves to come out and that one of the
biggest doctrines in our church is that families can be together
forever. It was just so rude and as we were on our way back I just
couldn't see how people can serve missions in places like England
where everyone is just rude to you and won't even let you get a word
in. That was the first time anyone has been super rude like that for
no reason and it was just really weird. I don't know what happened
that filled those people with so much hate, but I hope one day they
can understand who we are and what we're REALLY doing. It kind of
messed up our morning but later we had a massive group of children run
up to us cheering and greeting us so that was always a plus. The work
here is sweet though, don't worry. I'm still happy and no crazy
Australian ladies are going to change that! I love all of you and will
talk to you next week! Mission is weird sometimes!
 
Love,
Elder Stewart
 
PS we had to go to a new internet cafe because the other one was
closed... this one won't let me send pictures. Sorry!

 I (Jill) found this new pic of Hunter meeting Elder Curtis and his wife on 

the Mission President's blog so I thought I'd include it since Hunter 

couldn't send any pictures this week!

Churched Out, Baptisms & "Latter Days"

Dearest family,

How art thou? Yup, I'm all churched out now. Elder Burton always talk about how we weren't like those crazy churchy people back home and that we don't think we are now but then we realize that we totally are and we're just fooling ourselves. But it's all good I guess. No problem. Speaking of being churchy, we had a baptism last Saturday! Yay. We had a mother and her daughter, one lady that was a referral from a return missionary (coughhisgirlfriendcough), and another little girl who was a referral from the branch presidency. It was nice and they're all wonderful people! As far as transfer news goes, it got delayed again so we probably won't know anything until next week. We'll see what happens though.

Anyway, like I said the people baptized this week were pretty sweet. The lady that got baptized with her daughter first heard about the church about 4 years ago. She was taught by missionaries but for whatever reason she didn't get baptized and I guess they just stopped teaching her. A little over a month ago, two missionaries were walking by her house and she suddenly called out to them "Latter Days!" Oh, and just a sidenote- no one in this country calls us Mormons. I've been called a Mormon maybe once my whole mission so far. Everyone here calls the church "Latter Days Church." Anyway, she called that out and the two missionaries stopped and asked her if she knew that church. She said she had talked to them many years ago but it has been a while. They invited her to come to church and asked for her phone number so they could contact her. She said she didn't have a phone. They tried to give her a small pamphlet but she couldn't read. That Sunday she didn't go. Within that week those two missionaries showed up at her house and they had a nice discussion called the Restoration of the gospel. She finally understood why there were so many different churches all teaching different things. She came to church for the next 3 weeks and is now baptized and confirmed! I wish I knew more about what actually was going on in her head, but I guess it went something like that. She was super sweet though and you could tell that she really understood the message we were sharing. Now we're teaching almost all her neighbors and they should all be baptized in the next month or so. It's kind of crazy how those things can work. It was a great week though. Sierra Leone is an amazing place, that's for sure! Anyway, I'm out of time so I'll talk to you all next week. Love you!

Love,
Elder Stewart


P.S. Clayton I got your latest noona.... YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Just a sweet poster I saw hanging up that I wouldn't mind putting in my room.

  Baptism!

  The only standard church building in the country! Running water not included.