Week 55- Mbale, Uganda with Elder Asare

Wow mom and Dad- you really take such good care of me. I'm super excited to get that package! Thank you so so so much. It's amazing that you put in so much effort to take care of me on the other side of the world. I just hope you know how grateful I am. Monday after emailing we went to family home evening with a family from Kenya. Tuesday, we taught all morning and then later that day we found out someone stole some of our chairs for church.  Anyways Wednesday, we went and did service at an orphanage. We helped them get water for the week. We're preparing about 15 people for baptism this week, so we must teach a lot of lessons every day. Thursday, we did service and planted elephant grass all morning. Also went on exchanges that day and had a good time. Saturday, we did baptism interviews all day and then Sunday we had four baptisms. One of the kids, Josh, is 9 years old and the son of a convert. Really love that kid and had fun teaching him. I’m going to confirm him this week.

Week 54-Mbale, Uganda with Elders Hall and Asare

MOM THE PATRIOTS ARE IN THE SUPERBOWL!! Tuesday, we taught all day long and went to that forest I sent some pictures of. I didn't feel very good that day, my stomach was upset.  Wednesday, we went Jinja for zone conference, that night I had a rolex, like the 3rd one I've had on my mission. It's super bland, it's literally two tortillas and then two plain eggs with no salt. Who even would think of that?
The next day was zone conference and I had to talk about goals and goal setting. It went really well I think, but after we got some crazy news. President Collings decided to call Elder Hall to a new area.  So now it's just me and Elder Asare here in Mbale. That meant we had to drive back to Mbale that night to get Elder Hall's stuff (a three-hour drive) and then get him back to Jinja (another three-hour drive). The problem was that we were supposed to be in Kampala so we could go on exchanges that next day with the assistants, so it meant that I'd have to drive through the night to Kampala. It was super wild, but it all worked out well and we made it to Kampala around midnight. That Friday we had exchanges and they were wonderful, we had a really spiritual day. We taught a lot about the Book of Mormon. Saturday, I drove back to Mbale and we stopped in Lugazi to say hi to some people. I got to see Malayka and her son Britton. It was cool. That night we visited a few people we are teaching. Sunday was chaotic, running a new branch is a lot of hard work. But it's good, it's really neat to see the gospel of Jesus Christ practiced in such a raw form. It's really just a bunch of people who are trying their very best to run the church the way it's supposed to We're teaching so many people right now. We're already booked with appointments until Friday.   Tomorrow we are serving in the orphanage again. I will send some pictures next week.
Hahahah yes-larger women are considered attractive here… that's an African guy thing... Even my companion likes big girls. They consider it a sign of a good husband/ father /provider.
 Are you getting the boys to study the Come Follow me program with you? I really wish that we could all study it as a family. I would also LOVE to study that with Bailee. I think that sounds wonderful. That is so cool and symbolic, it sounds like you are learning so much about the Savior. That is incredible! I hope they boys really get on board with it. What a wonderful potential blessing that program is for our families and our testimonies.  

Week 53- Mbale, Uganda with Elders Hall and Asare

Lemme tell you a little about my week, it's not nearly as good as yours but it was interesting. Tuesday morning, we did service at an orphanage. This orphanage is unique. It's super bush and it houses about 80 kids. Most of the kids are between 10 and 15 years old. We farmed for them mostly. It's really cool because they can grow all their own food on the property. Also tried to ride a REALLY mean cow and got wrecked. Wednesday, we went to a little village called Namabwasa that's in our area and spent the morning there. We worked with some of the members and taught a part member family. Then that day we went to Jinja which is halfway to Kampala because MLC was the next day. We spent the night there, then the next day went to Kampala for MLC. MLC was super amazing; President Collings gave some really cool trainings. He talked about the washing of the feet ordinance and then about doing the will of the Father. That day was my year mark so to celebrate after MLC I had an Oreo milkshake in Jinja. The next day we drove back to Mbale and taught a bunch of people. That day we had a baptism for Peace and Desire, so we had to get everything set up. Super cool experience at the baptism. It was soooo chaotic, as you can imagine, just having the service outside in the middle of nowhere. The whole-time people were just going crazy and were super disrespectful to the fact we were having a baptismal service. But after they got baptized and went up to bear testimony the spirit was so strong. Even amid all the chaos you could feel it so strong. It was like having one foot in hot water and then one in cold. The baptisms were hard though, because there was only like a foot of water, we had to baptize them sitting down, and one of the girls cried because the water was cold.  We didn't go to the formation of the Busia district because it's really far, but it is in my zone.
In answer to your questions- the branch does have the Come follow Me manual, we do not though. They aren't giving them to us yet and I don't know if they will even allow us time to study them. I hope they do! It takes us a good 30 minutes to set up the tent each week. We don't take it down though, someone else does since we always have presidency meetings with the Branch Presidency right after church.

Elder Walter Chatora has been called to be the new Uganda, Kampala Mission President when President Collings is released in July. Elder Chatora is from Zimbabwe and is the last man on the far right in this picture.

Week 52- Mbale, With Elders Hall and Asare

The tent is my CHURCH and then the bushy pic is my actual AREA! I left Kabowa this week and got to my new area in Mbale. This place is so amazing. I keep thinking that I'm in the most bush area in the mission and each place beats the last. This place takes the cake for sure! I'm in a threesome with Elder Asare and Elder Hall. They're both super cool, and Elder Hall is helping us get to know the area. When we got here, we went to a dinner appointment and we got fed some pretty good food, played with the little kids and then I just unpacked. The next day we went out and taught. The people here are incredible! The first lady we went to see is really old and we kinda played a joke on her and told her Elder Asare couldn't talk and she totally believed us and then when we started the lesson he prayed and she realized we were messing with her and it was sooo funny, she fell on the floor laughing so hard. We ended up having a super spiritual lesson with her. She is originally from Gulu and it made her happy that I knew her local language. She hasn't been able to speak Acholi with someone in years. Also got to meet all the other people we're teaching and they're just incredible. They're super spiritual and smart. They are some of the most faithful people. The branch I'm in is about a month old, it was just barely formed. This is the Mugiti branch. It is the second branch in Mbale but it is outside of the town. It has been referred to as Palissa, Kabwangassi, Kamonkoli and Mile 5. There might be a story about these people on lds.org if you search for mile 5, Mugiti branch in Mbale. And church is in a tent just out in the bush on a member’s property. There were animals in sacrament meeting mom. It's so wild I can't even believe it. The people here though used to walk three hours to go to the other branch in town, they're soooo faithful. It's a lot of work here but it's fun. So now let me tell you some crazy things about this place. It's kaddodii season, which means circumcision season. Boys become men somewhere between 12-21. We were invited to a tribal circumcision ceremony. Pretty wild. Elder Hall is from Lone Peak/Lehi and we get along super well. We both like to tease and its super fun. In fact, we're going to set up a humanitarian project together when we both get home, He'll go home at the end of August. Elder Asare is from Ghana and is super chill, I really like him. Today was a fun P-day, we went on a little hike and went to these water falls. Visiting this place would be fun. To get to the falls we asked some little kids to take us up, they were like tour guides. How fun would that be to do with the family? I think this is my favorite area, we have mountains here! The apartment is heaven, I shower twice a day with HOT water!!!!!! I haven't taken any pictures of the house yet, but it's so nice I love it. Mbale town is actually quite nice, that's where we live. But every day we drive about 25-45 minutes out on this dirt road to our area in the bush. But Mabale town is nice, all the roads are paved, and they have like 2 or 3 stop lights. Over all everything is good here, I'm happy. This Friday is MLC. Mom your birthday is coming up! What are you going to do for it? I wish I was going to be able to give you a birthday hug!