Week 7 in Lugazi with Elder Millecam

I can't even tell you how lucky I am to be in this mission. I am in love with Uganda, and especially Lugazi. I hope that I get to spend quite a bit of time in this area. Something special is happening here. I know I'm a young missionary, but I really don't feel like it. Elder Millecam is doing a great job training. I love that guy. I'm always learning and loving the people. It has been amazing how much I have already learned. I'm extremely happy to be on my mission!

 My daily schedule goes like this: we get up at about 6:30 and I pray and then exercise, and we usually go for a run and then lift weights. Then we take showers with a bucket and get dressed, study, and plan. Usually, we cook breakfast around 8. Then we go out around 10:00 to proselyte swing home around 12:30 or 1 for dinner and to relax for a minute and then go back to town and teach until 8 and then come home and eat dinner and relax. That's about it. My mission is obedient.  I'm obedient and I work hard. I am strong willed though, and I don't want to break any of the rules.
It has a roller coaster week for sure. Lots of ups and downs. We found out something super funny this week. We have this investigator named Karyn. She's super nice, but when we teach her, she's really hit or miss. Like she could be two separate people. Sometimes she is all there and asks really good questions and other times she's just flat. The other day we went to teach, and it turns out, she has a freaking twin sister! Sometimes we had been teaching the twin and she was just not interested, and then other times we were teaching Karyn. 

So we gotta start over with the lessons. We did not get to do any baptisms this week even though we had them all lined up. Saturday night someone broke into the church and stole all our water, so they're going to have to wait another week.

Hey mom, I tried sugar cane. It's just eh..not that great. It is a weird texture for sure. It kinda tastes like kool-aide. Here is a picture of some sweet new shoes I picked up in the market. I bet dad would love a pair! LOL They are super comfy. I can only wear them sometimes though. Of the shoes I brought- the Steve Maddens are the BEST! I love them. The other ones were not good walking shoes, and I gave them to one of the guys in the ward who really needed a pair of shoes. I won't need another pair. When I do, I'll just buy some here.
 I got your package and I loved it!  I love the notes that you put in them, I hang on to them and have a folder for them. Sure, Love you guys! Send more handwritten letters and PICTURES! Love, Elder Payne

Week 6, Lugazi / Elder Millecam

This week's email was the best yet! I loved it and wished I could print it off. Corbin's valentines party looks so fun! He looks happy. I've been praying for our family to be happy. It is so neat to hear about the guys at school receiving their mission calls! I want to stay in touch with nick!! Get his email for me.
This week we have had no power and no water. We had to kind of rough it extra hard, but it was fun. We might get water this week, but we don't know for sure. The electricity went out right when my comp was cutting his hair! I fixed him up good though. I am pretty good at cutting hair! But I need some tips for my own.
We had a super powerful Sunday. The church is a 30-minute walk from our house. The investigators we brought to church are Amazing. They answer each other’s questions and have asked how soon they can be baptized. We also had an investigator who saw an angel this week. Mom, I'm not joking. This lady we have been teaching was praying to find out if the message we were sharing was true, and she saw a being dressed all in white, whiter than our shirts she said. He appeared in her room; she was so scared. He told her not to fear, and that the message the missionaries shared is true. I've got the chills writing this. The spirit was ridiculous. I felt it so strong. She is going to be baptized on Sunday! Hearing that kind of stuff is so powerful. Another cool thing that happened- we taught the word of wisdom to these two brothers. Derrick and Steven. We know that they are hard core drinkers.  We told them that they should not drink alcohol and told them that waning off it slowly would be easiest. They looked at each other and said that they were done. They went cold turkey right there, and it was super cool. We also had a dinner appointment with a lady named Malayka. She's super stubborn and loves to tease. We have a special relationship because she reminds me a lot of you.  I've thought about you mom-specifically this week. Malayka is such a good mom and some of the stuff she wears is stuff you would wear. I don't know exactly why she reminds me of you. But she's my favorite investigator -because she reminds me of you. I told her that and now we're super tight. I will attach some pics! She renamed her son after me. His name is now Britton PAYNE...something...something...something. There was also a wedding on Saturday. The wedding had some super strange customs. Since there's not a temple close by, they just got legally married at the church, and then we had a reception. We ate with our fingers! So, our guard sucks actually. He may have been the shirt thief. He is really more of a buddy that plays cards with us. Our yard is all fenced in and the guard has a little hut in the backyard. I feed him my egg yolks and he loves them. I also saw monkeys and a hippo this week but couldn't get a picture.

The fruit here is good. I love the mangos and the bananas. They're super yummy. Most of the food is just super bland. I haven't had any local food because it is SO unhealthy. I eat street meat once in a while though. They have beef and chicken and pork and that's about it. I pound the water and haven’t gotten sick yet. I get bottled water every day. Actually, that's what I spend most of my money on. I also really like the sweet potatoes. Matoke is okay. No bugs at all so far! I've been bit like once, and it itched hecka bad. I used Sister Drapers oil stuff and it was like magic... I sleep under a mosquito net. The hardest thing to adjust to is the warm nights. We are lucky if its cooler than like 80 degrees at night. I wish that my brothers could be on their missions at the same time as me and that we could all be companions together. Or I wish Dad was my companion. That would be the coolest thing ever. I wish I would have hugged you more and told you I loved you more mom. You were so underappreciated. I can't wait to see you all.  Love, Elder Payne

  

Week 5-Lugazi, Jinja / Millecam

This week was busy! I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on the atonement. I also taught gospel doctrine and then had to teach combined third hour about families, specifically about moms. I was fighting tears the whole entire time because I was thinking about you guys. I miss Sundays with our family so much. We taught a lot of lessons this week and walked a TON. We walk so much; I'm dying to know how far we actually travel. There were some very spiritual experiences this week. We have a lot of super good investigators and we have a bunch of baptisms this next Sunday. We got no joke, 10 new investigators yesterday. We taught a huge crowd of people and they all loved what we had to say. On Wednesday I got attacked by a drunk guy. It was funny, not scary and I promise I didn't hit him. We also had an investigator who asked us to sing a hymn for him at the beginning of the lesson. It was so bad! But we did it anyways and laughed about it. The investigators here can be tough. They all want to be baptized and if we wanted, we could baptize someone every Sunday.  We just have a hard time getting them to church. They are not super committed. We try to get investigators who will be lifetime converts and that is tougher. We also have a hard time finding a place where we can teach them during the day since everyone works. We have to teach in bars, markets, their work and around loud areas a lot so it's hard for the spirit to be there. I included a picture of our church bld, roof gatherings and font. We hold our Branch gatherings on the roof of the shopping complex, on the backside of the Chapel. We baptize right behind the chapel in a small font (white container in the corner). 

I'm eating super healthy, and I've been able to work out every day and that's making me happy. I miss and appreciate all the little things that I had at home that I don't have now. If you guys would write me snail mail and stuff, I would love it. You send it to the mission home and then they bring it out to me. I can't print any emails or pictures from here. Which means I have nothing to read to get me through the week. I'm dying to hear from you more than once a week. You can never send me enough packages or pictures. I need every bit of home that I can get our here. Tell Gwen I got her letter for me please and that I loved it! So, the picture of me with the toothpick is at a nice restaurant in Lugazi. I got pork because it was the only thing that looked cooked. It was pretty good. This bunny picture is for Natalie, I know they are not show quality. The one picture below is of a circumcision parade. I got a fine for trying to take a picture of it lol. I cook on a gas stove, but the power goes out all the time, so I use matches to light it usually. We have a water barrel on our roof that is filled once a month. We have to ration and subsidize by hauling when needed. One time, before I got here, the water delivery didn’t show up. They ran out and it is a 20-minute walk one way, with 5-gallon Jerry cans. They were able to hire a local with a bike, and a basket, to help them haul water until the truck delivered again. The water is super clean though so that is good. 

I love my companion. He's so fun, and the other missionaries that live with me are cool too. There is four of us. Three of us are from Utah and we talk about Lake Powell and home all the time and I love it. It is nice to be able to relate. Elder Thornley is from Saratoga Springs, my comp is Elder Millecam, from Vernal and then Elder Hyer from Washington. I got my hair cut last night, and It actually looks super good. I will need you to send me clippers eventually. I won a free hand wash of all my clothes from beating one of our guards in a card game! We must hand wash our clothes or pay the guards to do it. Also, I might need some short sleeve shirts soon. Some of mine got stolen while they were hang drying in the yard and I'm down to five, I think.  Hope my prayers have been getting through and helping you. Love, your son, Dylan

 

 

Facts about the church in Uganda

In Uganda, expatriate Latter-day Saints were living and holding meetings as early as the 1960s. The first Ugandan to join the Church was Charles Osinde, who was baptized in Scotland and returned to his homeland. A couple arrived in the country in March 1990 as part of a USAID program. Meetings were then held in their home.
Currently there are more than 10,000 members of the Church living in Uganda. They are organized into two districts, Jinja and Kampala, and eight branches. The first Church-built chapel, in the Kololo Branch was dedicated in 1997, and a second chapel, in Jinja, was dedicated in 1998.

15,157 Total Church Membership

1 Mission

8 Family History Centers

27 Congregations

First week in field pictures

Week 4- in the field, Lugazi / Millecam

The traffic here is nuts! We got in a car accident the very first day I was here, on my way to Lugazi (my area). I got banged up but nothing too bad. We got T- boned in an intersection but the car was still drivable. It was the missionary’s fault though and we just drove off. If no one is hurt that is what you do here. It is a good thing too, because they allow mob justice here, so they would have tried to beat up the missionary who was driving. We walk everywhere, all the time. I don't mind though; I like walking and it is better than driving/riding in the traffic. My companion is Elder Millecam from Vernal, Utah. He is a rock star. I love him already. I wish I could spend my whole mission with the guys in my house. I like them all. I like my mission president too, he seems nice. I should share something spiritual though for you to pass along to the family. It's been cool to teach the gospel so simply. The people here honestly are uneducated, so we struggle sometimes just because they can't grasp concepts. My testimony has become very simple, but I love it. Teaching simply, has been really good for me. The best mission prep for my mission would have been being a primary teacher. Another cool thing, I got all my shirts tailored to me for about a total of $12.00. Super cheap. When I come home, I will be in a new suit as well, and it may or may not have tiger print on the inside of it. I'm writing from an internet café. It is super-hot here. I am doing a lot better. I still miss you guys and think about you every single day. That will never change though and I'm okay with it. Here's some more pics of my area and a group picture of me with some kids we meet with all the time. They are funny, and super rough. I have a video my comp took where I’m playing with them all, but I can’t get it to send. This area that I'm in is called the bush. Like I'm camping. The power and water go out every single day. It is known as the roughest area in the mission. I don't mind it though; I could spend my whole mission in this part. Dad, I remember what you said about how I'll be teaching really simply, and it couldn't have been truer. I was super grateful for how you taught me to share my testimony before I left. Having a simple testimony is the best. I've learned some crazy deep doctrine though as well. I studied the heck out of the Pearl of Great Price in the MTC when I got bored and learned all about Kolob and the fall and stuff. Also have really enjoyed reading in the Book of Revelations. There is some crazy knowledge in there. I'm learning to speak the language here, Lugandan! I'm getting really pretty good at it. I haven't eaten anything off the streets except fruits and veggies. I'm eating healthy! You are going to die when you see where I am living, it’s pretty rough I won’t lie. So, these are some pics of a lunch and a dinner that I made. Yummy right?  And yes. I really did cook and eat that. I killed my own chicken, and It was so nasty. There is a frog that lives in that toilet, we can't get it to go away. lol. Then there's my gym in the garage, my washing machine, me, and our house. I'll send you more pics of the house next week, I didn't get that many. Street contacting is my favorite way to find people. I love just going out and talking to people. Even though I can't understand them most of the time. Teaching people is hard sometimes just because they don't usually understand. I'm getting better at teaching simply. The people here love to laugh and I can really be myself. Me and my companion always talk about how cool it is that we won't lose our personalities or anything because we can joke around and tease all the people we teach. So far, we've taught 25 lessons and only two of them have been in a member’s house and I love it!  We got 8 people to come to church, and I guess that is a ton. I had to give a talk! And they dropped it on me five minutes before sacrament, so I had to wing it! It was fine though. The people who will listen to us are super receptive to the gospel, and they love our message even though they don't understand it all the way. I've been hitting the scriptures hard and found some really good ones. We have to teach ridiculously simply and a lot of times we can't even share scriptures because it confuses them. It's cool though because it goes back to basics. My testimony has become amazingly simple, and it keeps growing. I love it. My testimony of prayer has grown a lot too. I'll tell you about one of the guys we're teaching right now. His name is Sharriff. He wears all (fake) Gucci clothes all the time, but he loves our gospel so much. We'll baptize him soon. He calls us about 12 times a day. We have a total of 11 baptisms lined up right now, me and my comp are killing it. I loved the package you sent! I really needed it. Send more protein bars if you have a chance.
PS don't worry about sending me too many packages. I'm in a house with all Americans so they get them all the time. The more the better!  Mom, I miss you and the family so much. I hope you all know how much I love you. Dad, How's your calling going? Is the family all doing okay? I wish I could be home playing cards with you guys. Love you all. Elder Payne

Uganda Flag and Elder Payne Picture

Mission Home, Arrival in Uganda