Week 41- In Bardege, Gulu with Elder Ankrah

 My week went by fast. Tuesday was a normal day, and we actually had a really good day that day. We found 6 new investigators that day which is good because it ended up being our only full day in our area. We started teaching this members Grandma, we call her Jaja, and she's the coolest lady ever. I love going over and seeing her, she always makes us laugh super hard and treats us good. She loves fishing too! Her and grandma would get along really nice. She's one of my favorite people I've met here without a doubt. Wednesday, we got a call in the morning from the AP's, they wanted us to drive down that day, so we could go on exchanges Thursday before MLC. So, we did, we drove all day Wednesday and then ran some errands in Kampala in the evening. The next day we spent all day working with the AP's and had a lot of fun. I don't mind working with them, they're good guys but it makes it kind of hard to get work done in our own area. I don't like where they proselyte, it's in the slums, and I don't like the slums-they are sad.  I worked with Elder Gwatdizo, it was my first time working with him and I love the guy. We both really like business, and finance, and the stock market and stuff like that. We also worked with Sister Jannett, and she just returned from serving a mission in England -She's in the second picture. That day we got to go see Mama BuFatty, the lady who smacked Elder Gilbert for laughing during the prayer the last time I went on exchanges with him. That's me and her in the first picture. She fed us sweet potatoes and ground nut sauce, which is one of my favorite dishes here. Friday was MLC, and we talked a lot about following the example set by Jesus Christ which I liked. I had the impression I needed to read Jesus the Christ again and study his life more. We tried to drive home that night, but we couldn't because traffic was so bad. I've never seen anything like that in my life. It took us over three hours to make it 6 miles. We had to come back to Kampala that night and stay again. We left the next morning, Saturday, and drove all day and then went and saw members that night. The next day we finally got to watch conference and there was a lot that I loved about it. I think the Sunday session was one of my favorite sessions of all time. I again had the impression I needed to study the life of Jesus Christ more as the brethren talked and encouraged us to follow His example and become more Christ-Like. I had a lot of favorites. I loved the talk by the guy from the 70 about the attributes of Heavenly Father. And President Eyrings talk as well. When he talked about is wife it hit me hard. I love when the brethren talk about their wives. I also loved Hollands talk. The prophets talk was good, I loved how bold it was. It was a good correction and kind of funny. After it happened I realized that it made sense and wondered what took so long. I have realized that sometimes the Lord waits until we ask to send revelation. We need to do everything we can, then ask, and we'll get our answers. Kind of like Joseph Smith and the word of wisdom. I loved how much focus there was on Jesus Christ. I came out of conference wanting to follow his example and become more like him. That's what I loved so much about it!  Corbin! Hey buddy, I miss you a ton. I can't believe your birthday is so close. I'll celebrate for you here. I have been thinking about you a lot since your birthday is coming, and I hope you know how proud I am of you and how much I love you. I wish more than anything you were here with me. Dude, I would love to play card games with you right now, that sounds so fun. Remember WarJack? hahaha. I'm happy that you're enjoying school. keep up the good work. I'm super excited for you to get the priesthood Corb. You're a man now. I love you buddy, I can't wait to see you. 

Week 40- in Bardege, Gulu with Elder Ankrah

This week was better than I hoped, even though it was long. We stayed so long in Kampala because transfers weren't until Thursday, but we had to take McLain down on Monday. We stayed with Elder Corbridge and Elder Asante the zone leaders there. Asante is coming back with us to Gulu this transfer, and he's from Ghana. He's huge and kind of a goofy guy. Corbridge is from American Fork. It ended up being super nice staying in Kampala. I loved the area that I stayed in and really wish I would get to serve there. It was called Insombia, and it seems like one of the wealthier parts of Kampala. The ward is great, and life seems super nice. So, we got to relax a bit while we were there, one day we worked the area with the zone leaders and did an exchange, so we got to meet the ward. The church is a lot stronger there, and the people are really cool. We got fed by an Embassy family in the ward on Wednesday before we left, and I think it was the most enjoyable night of my month. The Dad of the family is from Provo, and the mom is from Ghana, so we got food from home and from Ghana. It was so good, and a super fun night. It reminded me of being with our family. A lot of fun. They took really good care of us. We also got a chance to go to the supermarket there in Kampala and that was heavenly. I'm not a big fan of grocery shopping, but I could've just stayed there all day. Thursday, we picked up the new missionaries coming to the zone and then drove home. By the time we got back it was late so we just all went to bed. A lot of driving this week. On Saturday we got to go to lira again and do interviews, but things didn't work out super well. The branch president is struggling so interviews didn't work out. Then we checked on the branches, took them supplies, and visited members. But we got a rabbit from a member there and took it home for dinner. I'm not a huge fan of rabbit I found out, but rabbit liver is wayyyy better than beef or chicken liver.  We didn't get to work in our area hardly at all because of all the other things we had to do.  I pulled the money and payed for the packages, but I haven't got them so I'll get them hopefully at MLC this coming Friday. I'll probably go down on Wednesday or Thursday. I'm not sure yet.  What is in the packages? They've never had something get taxed so bad before. Or was it just the size of them? My health is fine right now, I'm doing really good actually. I'm missing home big time still, and some days are better than others but for the most part I'm doing great. How are you doing though? I'm as worried about you guys as you are about me. The computer that I'm emailing on right now shocks me every few seconds hahaha, How awesome is that? 

Week 39- Bardege Gulu with Ankrah

Sorry my email is so late, it's been a really long day. We had to drive down for transfers this morning since Elder Mclain is leaving. It was hard to see him go. I've become good friends with him. We had some great spiritual experiences this week. We had an awesome lesson about the word of wisdom. After the lesson Oyuk told us that some of his coworkers were talking bad about the church and said that he should fear us. He told them," if you fear them then you should fear me too, because now I am with them." I love how proud and happy he is to be a part of the church. He was baptized on Sunday. He's the oldest person I’ve seen baptized here, he's 66 years old. I watched part of the morning session of conference and got to hear the big announcement (which I love btw) and then went home because I wasn't doing good. Sunday, I went to sacrament and then went home, still sick... Everyone gets sick from time to time but I do seem to get sick a lot. Some missionaries just have health problems the whole time they're here, it's not uncommon. Today I drove ALL day, so it hasn't been a very relaxing p- day. We'll be in Kampala all week long for transfers. Mclain is the only one leaving our district and Elder Weight will be coming to be Godfrey's new companion. So, me and Ankrah are still comps. I'm so glad for that too. I really like him, and I'll miss him like crazy when we get transferred.
I love the changes announced in conference! I’m excited-next week we'll watch it all at the chapel.  I hope that the boys understand them and apply them. I'm excited, I know it will help me when I come home too. I think my Sundays will be really different. I hope you guys had fun celebrating Dads birthday. Happy birthday dad, I sent you a handwritten letter.
Charles is ready for baptism we just need to figure out his marriage situation with him this week. Sorry, no pictures this week.  We're staying in a place called Insombia. I've never been here before. I love you all so much! Thanks for being so supportive 

Week 38-Bardege, Gulu with Ankrah

  I Definitely won't get to watch General Conference live. It will probably be a week late, but I'm going to try and get us missionaries a copy of it on a disc so that we can watch it at the church. I still wish I was going to get to watch it with you guys. I think conference makes me miss you as much as any holiday! you did good when it came to conference traditions, I'll forever have fond memories of conference. I want to see pictures of Baylor at homecoming!! Did he have fun at the dance? I'm glad that he went. How's he doing? And how is Corbin doing? Baylor took the boat out all by himself? That is so fun, what a stud.
We found 14 new people to teach this week, so we felt extremely busy. I’d say 14 is a lot to find, Gulu is a little bit tough. If you don't work, nothing will happen haha. Tuesday, I had exchanges with Elder Godfrey and was sick most of the day. I was throwing up in the morning but by evening I was fine. Exchanges were fun, I like Godfrey a lot, he's a great guy. I end up listening on exchanges and learning. We went out and taught this guy named Mouritz, who is a super neat. They baptized him on Saturday! Wednesday was a slow day, I was recovering a little bit, but we met this man named Charles and had a really great lesson with him. He's ex-military and probably in his late 60's. It's often hard to teach people here that are older because they're usually not interested in change at all. But he responded well to the lesson. The only problem was he can barely walk. So, I didn't think that he'd ever be able to make it to church because it's a bit of a walk from his house. I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday when he showed up. The rest of the week was lots of missionary work. We had to stop teaching this girl named Irene who was progressing really well because her father didn't like us. Sad. Sunday was great though, Oyuk made my day. He beat us to church. He'll get baptized for sure this week. He's an amazing person, always so happy and humble. He's also already got a strong testimony of the church and Jesus Christ. He'd give up anything to be baptized. I heard that new church history book is so good! I watched the face to face where Elder Cook introduced it. I’m trying hard to learn to budget well and only use my allotment. It's tough sometimes but I want to get the hang of it. I’m still trying to find new options and figure out the area a little bit. I found a great place to get fish this past week and it's affordable so I'm going to eat a lot more of that. Sure love you guys! Hugs to you all- Elder Payne