Week 51-Kabowa with Elders Hunter and Mboya

UKM Mission- Dec 24th, 2018

Christmas was the best. It made me so happy to talk to the family. It made me ridiculously happy!!I'm getting transferred to Mbale to be with Elder Hall, and I think it'll be a lot of fun. That is a place I really want to see. We have a third companion, his name is Elder Asare, and he's from Ghana. I leave Kabowa on Thursday, so I've been slowly repacking my bags all week. We said bye to the members in Kabowa (I barely know any) but Elder Hunter is also leaving so there's a lot of people he wanted to see. That's really been the whole week, just spending time with members. All the people we were teaching are out of town for the holidays, so Kabowa is a ghost town. Church attendance on Sunday was in the 20's. I'm so ready for my new area!   

Week 50-Kabowa with Elder Hunter and Mboya

Where I lived in the United States, I could take a hot shower whenever I desired, turn on a sink and get clean water to drink. I've been blessed with so many things that other people around the world struggle for and even go without. Before living in Uganda, I took clean running water in our homes for granted. It's very rare for a household to have running water here, which means that one of the women's daily responsibilities is to fetch water for the family to drink, cook and bathe. Throughout the hours of the day you'll see women, of various ages, carrying water to their homes, often by balancing the fifty-pound jerry cans on their heads. While it's an impressive feat, as you can imagine it's quite hard work and extremely taxing on these women. Especially when the nearest bore hole to your home is over two miles away, which was the case for eighty-two-year-old Sister Asunta Zindia. Sister Zindia stays all alone in a humble grass roofed mud hut on the outskirts of Gulu. I became aware of her troublesome water situation when I came across her attempting to carry one of these fifty-pound jerry cans back to her home. I found out that she had been making that two-mile journey all her life but in her old age it became too rigorous for her body to handle. It was very difficult for me to see her struggle, and I felt extremely sensitive to the situation. She could only make the trip once a month which meant she had very little drinking water and couldn't bathe. She had no-one to help her. Seeing her struggle for something so necessary for survival I knew I needed to help, I told her that I would come and fetch water for her twice a week until I could come up with a more permanent solution. I continued getting her water until I found out about a man who lived only a mile away that had running water. After explaining the situation with Sister Zindia to the man he kindly gave me permission to tap his water line so as to allow Sister Zindia to have running water close to her home. However, this would mean digging a two-foot-deep trench a mile long between their two homes to lay a pipe. I happily agreed, and although the labor was hard very few things in my life have been as satisfying as it was to help Sister Zindia. It took almost a whole month of digging every other day, and it was all worth it to see Sister Zindia travel ten feet from her home to get a drink of water. I'm eternally grateful for the chance to serve her. When I first arrived in Africa, I really struggled. I missed home badly. I began to doubt that I could make it a whole two years. I counted every minute of every day, Now I'm so glad that I decided to serve a mission. The thing that really changed was I learned how to focus outward and serve other people. When I began to lose myself in the service of others time began to fly by. The true joy in missionary work comes from bringing happiness into other people’s lives. One of the blessings of being a missionary is that you get to work very closely with other people, and you learn all about the intimate details of their lives. This allows insight on what I can do to truly help them. Here in Uganda, there are so many opportunities to serve others. One thing that I've tried to do is find ways to do small acts of service daily, in between teaching appointments. These small acts of service are usually simple things such as carrying jerry cans for the women, helping someone in their garden or shucking maize. The locals often think it's funny to see a white man in a shirt and tie helping in the garden, but I can tell that they feel loved and appreciate the help. As I've studied the life of Jesus Christ and his ministry it's encouraged me to pattern my life after his. He spent so much of his life serving others and communicated the love he had for them through his service. This is something I'm striving to emulate and apply in my life and will continue to apply as I go home. I’ve had opportunities for life changing service such as helping build straw roofs on huts, digging wells, or laying the foundation for a new chapel, which is a project I recently helped to complete. I've discovered that by loving my fellow man I can communicate my love to Heavenly Father. Now, months seem like weeks and I don't find myself worried about time because I'm so engaged in showing love to others. Looking outward and the joy that comes from serving other people has caused the days to blur by. 

Week 49- Kabowa, Kampala with Elders Hunter and Mboya

My week was mostly driving. I left Gulu on Tuesday and spent all day driving to Lira, then we had to stay the night there because of a storm. It was super crazy, there was like a river on the road. Then Wednesday I drove to Kampala with this guy who works for the mission. He's like 35 but he acts like a deacon. He educated me on the prostitution rings in Uganda. In case you wondered you can get a prostitute for the equivalent of about 30 cents... He didn't want to take me to my new area that night, so I slept in a different part of Kampala, then the next day got to Kabowa at around 8 at night. The view from our apartment is super cool. The hard thing is that since I’m only going to be here a short time I don't want to unpack- so I'm living out of suit cases. My comps are cool though, I'm with Elder Hunter from Lehi and he's awesome, we get along and Elder Mboya from Kenya who barely speaks English. He's super funny though! The rest of the week I was just trying to adjust to a new style of missionary work, most of the people in Kabowa have heard of the church and just aren't interested. It’s hard to find serious people to teach here. This one girl named Jen seemed serious but, she didn't come to church. Speaking of church, Kabowa is a ward, so I spent my first Sunday in almost a year in a ward. It was nice and organized, although attendance was only about 50. That's about my whole week.
Haven't seen a real Christmas tree here, they sell small fake ones at the store. Like the one Corbin always put up. I made us a little dinky tree out of a bush tho hahaha. I've missed you loads this week. .Fun fact #1 Sacrament Meeting attendance was 131 in Gulu and 95 in Bardege. The new Branch President’s name is Lubangakene Joel. Bardege, the other branch in Gulu town, has outgrown its current building. They have been meeting in this building which was previously a home. They used two of the rooms as a chapel, but no matter how we tried, no more people could fit in the building, and people are continuing to join the church in the Bardege branch. We are building a new chapel right next to the current building. So, when it's finished, sacrament meeting can be held in the new chapel, and we can still use the current building as classrooms. It was really fun to have an opportunity to work on the new chapel when I was in Bardege.

Fun fact #2 President Collins is the church leader for all the districts and branches that are not in the stakes within our mission. There are 13 branches and 2 districts with an additional 6 branches in the districts, so he oversees a total of 19 branches in 3 countries. There are also 3 stakes in our mission, but they are presided over by stake presidents. We have 147 missionaries in three countries serving in the branches, districts and stakes. In addition, there is a unit called the mission branch. This comprises all the individuals and families who are members living in Uganda but are too far from any branches. There are over 200 members in the mission branch. These individuals and families worship in their homes. They hold sacrament meetings with their families. They pay their tithing to the mission president instead of a bishop or branch president. They can still baptize their family members and even go to the temple- (closest one is in Johannesburg, South Africa) but because they are so far away from any organized unit of the church they meet in their homes.

Corbin, Bro- I miss you! I hope you're happy right now, and that your toe is getting better. Can't wait for you to try and take me down... The scriptures are giving me old man strength, I might have lost weight, but I can still take ya don't worry! Love you!

Week 48-Bardege, with Elder Ankrah

This week I was out of my area the whole time. Tuesday was the only day in Gulu -we spent all day seeing the people we are getting ready to baptize this next Sunday. Then we left at 6pm to go to Lira for an exchange. We got caught in a storm that turns the roads to mud so we didn't get there until about 11, and then I got to sleep on a couch. Because it's a new area that just got opened, the house they are in right now is so bad. There are leaks in the roof and bugs everywhere! It was awful. The next day was sick though, one of the pros to opening a new area is that people are just lining up to be taught and get baptized. We taught a ton of lessons that day. I think this last Sunday they baptized 12 people. That night I slept on the couch again... next day we drove to Kampala to do an exchange with the assistants to the president. We got there around noon and then met up with them. But what ended up happening was they just dropped me and Ankrah off in their area and we worked there all day. It's called Kisugu and it smells like poop. I don't like it. That night we stayed with some other missionaries and I got to sleep on the couch. It was a comfy one though this time, but they lost the house key, so we didn't get into the apartment until late. The next day we went on a hike for mission leadership conference and it was pretty fun. The place we went to was out past my old area, Lugazi, so I got to see it again. MLC was so great I got to learn a lot from President Collings. Not just about missionary stuff but also about life and careers. Then we stayed in Kampala that night. The next day me and Ankrah went on like a 6-mile run with President Collings- that was super fun. We drove home that night (Saturday) and then just went straight to bed. Sunday was good, we had a lot of people come to church. Prossy, and then this other girl Patience are ready to get baptized this next week. While I was in Kampala I found out where I'll be going next transfer and who my new companion will be. But on Sunday I got a call and found out that I am going to another area in Kampala called Kabowa for the last 3 weeks of this transfer before I go to my new area. I will be in a trio. I guess the area is really hard and I’m going there to help. So, I had to pack everything up today and get ready to go. I'm a little sad, I had no idea it was my last Sunday here. But I'm sadder because Elder Ankrah has become like my best friend here and it sucks to leave him. But I'm going to make sure that he gets his Christmas presents out before I leave. I'm doing good though, excited for a change of area. More excited that I'm getting close to talking to you for Christmas. I think the two best times of the year to read the book Jesus The Christ are now and Easter. I'm so grateful for that book. And for Him of course. No news on Irene’s death or the outcome yet. The courts are so slow here. Love to you all-Elder Payne

Week 47-Bardege with Elder Ankrah

My week was pretty good. We found 12 new people to teach this week which was incredible.  Thursday, I had to do an exchange with Elder Weight. He used to live with me if you remember. It was a hard day- I was happy to be back with Elder Ankrah. We saw this lady named Rhoda and she lives next to this outdoor gym. There was this huge guy working out and he thought he was really strong, and I was teasing him. So, then he challenged me to bench press. I quit lifting heavy in high school, and it turns out he really was really strong. But I think for my body weight I put up a good fight. I’m struggling to stay at 170.

Then the next day we had baptismal interviews all day long and then baptisms for this kid named Emma. Sunday was good too, church was super spiritual. I taught a lesson on exaltation, and it was so good. Then after church we went and taught a few people and came home and played Ticket to Ride. I won, of course. You would really like that game, Bailee can tell you about it sometime.


This is Nelly, she is the member whose house got burned down. We went and helped her to clean it up. Really though mom, I can feel your love all the way around the world. Wish I could give you a hug. I'm stoked for the Christmas packages; you guys really spoil me. Anyways, love you all!