Week 28 Bardege,Gulu with Elder Ankrah

  






My new area is super great. On the drive down I saw lots of cool animals. Baboons climbed all over our truck and stuff on the way here. Also, there were elephants on the drive, and nearby there are hippos, lions, zebras, and giraffes. I love it already. It's so bush though ahhaha. Like we actually teach in huts with dirt floors. The people here are amazing though. They're so kind, and sooooo smart. It's way easier to feel the spirit teaching because of their education and ability to read. And the Branch is so great. There's total like 150 members and we had about 105 in sacrament meeting, it was great. It could be a ward soon, there's just a few qualifications it needs to meet.  We have a very nice church building! Way better than the last one. I will like it here I think. The church is about a five-minute walk, not far at all. We already have a bunch of people to teach. We were only in our area for like half a day and we got 6 new investigators. Luckily, I didn't have to drive down. President's assistants brought us down. They showed us the area a little bit on Friday and we had dinner appointments Thursday and the two on Friday. So Elder Colvin set the dinner appointments up, he's the AP right now and he used to serve here. I like him a lot and I had a blast learning the area with him. I ate with Jolly Joe and his family, and man named Yosum and his family, and then two Sharron’s also fed us. Hahaha a lot. I didn't even eat Saturday I was so full. The apartment is an upgrade but not a huge one. The best thing is that we have a shower that has hot water sometimes and a really nice tile floor. I'll send pics later because internet sucks so bad today. Anyways, we've been sooo busy. On Saturday we drove to a place called Lira. There's no missionaries there but the branch is doing missionary work, so we had to go and interview the baptismal candidates. It was a super cool experience! I got to meet some people with really strong testimonies. One of the ladies that I interviewed had been investigating for over a year. Another said she knew the church was true as soon as she went in because of how Christ like the people were, it could only be Christ's true church. By the way, I love driving here. NO RULES. It was weird at first but I'm getting the hang of it. I've realized you just have to be aggressive on the road and then you're okay.  My companion is Elder Ankrah. He's a convert from a part member family. He's a really nice guy from Ghana. He's been out a little over a year now. He was raised in the church by his Mom since he was 12, he's 25 now. He's Hard working.
I'll only be in Gulu for two days. Then we'll be in Kampala for mission leadership council. The area we proselyte in is called Bardege. Gulu is the zone I'm over.  It's one of the smaller zones, and it's the furthest away in the country. My responsibilities include taking care of the zone, make sure everyone is being obedient, drive people around, interview candidates, plan activities for the zone, and report to president. It's a lot of fun.  The water here is better, electricity is still sketchy but that's no big deal anymore!!   I sure love you guys!

Week 27 Saying Goodbye to Luguzi, Transfer to Gulu with Woodland and Mukuna

 

So, I'm going to a place called Gulu. I got the news a day early on a conference call and it came as a huge surprise. I'm going to be the new zone leader there along with Elder Ankrah. Hahaha it's gonna be a crazy transfer while we figure things out. I'm really excited though. I think we'll have a lot of fun together. I've met Elder Ankrah a couple times before, he's been in Jinja zone a while too. He's from Ghana. So Wednesday we'll head to Kampala, stay in the mission home and then I think Thursday morning we'll drive 8 hours out to Gulu. Oh ya, I will be driving a truck now. So that means I’ve got to learn how to drive stick with my left hand hahaha.  And we have to get out to Gulu all on our own because we're the only ones from that zone who are being transferred.  It'll be good for a change.
 This week was good. I got to have dinner with Lena and Tonny one last time and that was awesome. They're good friends. Sunday, we confirmed Joseph, Keith was late, so she'll get confirmed next week. My last Sunday was a little melancholy. I'm going to miss a lot of people here. I've made some good friends. Malayka came for my last Sunday and that was cool. I got to interview this lady Elder Hyer has been teaching. I've know her since I got here, and it was neat to hear how ready she was to be baptized. At the end of church Sunday, the branch all came together and sung “Til we meet again” to me and that was super neat. It was a roller coaster of emotions. It was a really good goodbye.
I'll get my package on Wednesday when I go to Kampala. I'll need it to keep me awake while I drive down hahaha.  Ya I did okay on my hair, but I did a really good job on Woodland's hair. I cut his last night and I'm pretty proud of it. I make them let me carve a small D in their hair behind their ear for Dylan. hahaha. I'm too funny. In Luganda Gulu means heaven.
Hopefully it is a heavenly place. It is a larger city.

Week 26 In Lugazi with Elder Woodland and Elder Mukuna

Hey guys- Happy 4th of July!  I missed you so much on the fourth. Like a ton. We burned a couch! Ya, the couch was kinda fun, super-hot though. Not as cool as fireworks.  I bought a nice steak from Jinja and had a good dinner that included protein ice cream courtesy of gnarly whey protein. The ice cream is super easy. It's just protein powder, dates, a banana, and canned coconut milk. But I made it without milk too and used cashews that I soaked in water and that worked and was super good too. But you just blend it all up and get the right consistency and then put it in the freezer. I loved it. So, lots of interesting stuff happened this week. No transfer news yet. This transfer ends this Sunday, but we won't actually move areas until Wednesday. They give us a day to pack and to say bye.
Zone conference was long, but good. They fed us some local food- So rice, beans, matoke, a little bit of beef, g nut sauce, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, or baked potatoes, chapatti (tortilla) and some steamed veggies I have a new companion -I'm in a threesome until transfers. His name is Elder Mukuna. He's from the Congo and is just starting to learn English soooo I'm learning some French, as we try communicating haha. We walked a ton this week. I walked right though the soles of my Steve Maddens. I'm just rocking Jesus Sandals for now, but don't worry about sending new shoes I should be able to find some here that I can get by with. They're super cheap here. Just not that fashionable haha. We had no water or power this entire week. Luckily it rained a lot, so we had lots of rain water for showering. All that walking payed off on Sunday when we baptized Joseph and Keith. (Keith is a girl btw) I've been teaching them for a while so that was really awesome. Also, really been enjoying the Book of Mormon this week.  I just feel like I can understand it well and I'm able to find stuff that I can apply to my life. Somehow Elder Hyer is related to the Cleggs from our old ward AND to Mr. Miner from 5th grade. What a small world. Funniest thing that happened this week was a two-way tie. First, we crashed a little wedding next door. We just were walking by and went and danced and hung out with them for a while and congratulated the couple. They were super happy to have us there. The other thing was someone threw a cow’s head at us on the way to church. They didn't hit us, but we thought it was so funny. I gotta cut my hair before transfers and I'm dreading it.  I just don't want to mess it up really bad. I'm good enough I can cut other peoples hair okay, but cutting your own is so hard.
Mom I'm getting really good at cooking. I don't even like going to restaurants because they're expensive and now I can cook better than any of that food. I made almond crusted tilapia with mango sauce last night mmmm.

Week 25 in Lugazi with Elder Woodland

So, this week was most unusual! Our home was scheduled to be fumigated and deep cleaned for regular maintenance. We had to spend a few days staying with other missionaries. I also spent a day with Millecam in Jinja and a day in Kampala, went to the mission home and then the spent the day in office for work permits and visa applications. I spent most of the day waiting there, it was so long. It is possible I will be transferred to another country in the mission-I’m assuming that since I was there filling out work/visa permits. Then we went and walked around the shop rite in Kampala. It's so nice but everything is so expensive (for us missionaries) compared to home it's ridiculously cheap. You can get a whole Subway sandwich for about a dollar. And the fruits and veggies are soooo cheap. But I couldn't even afford asparagus. Hahaha. I was only in Kampala one day, so I didn't even stay the night. Just traveled back that day. I got a hot shower in Walukuba! It was so nice. I haven't felt that clean in a LONG time. I loved it. I really wish I could stay for one more transfer in Lugazi just because I like my routine. I've grown to almost enjoy Uganda. Hahaha just kidding I do enjoy it. My week was kinda crazy! Despite only being in our area two days this week we found 14 new investigators. That was pretty awesome, sadly most of them aren't serious. And then you know Joy, she got baptized. Pretty funny that she had a calling and everything and wasn't even a member. And then President Charles baptized his daughter. And then the girl I'm holding is his daughter too. That's his whole family.

Week 24 in Lugazi with Elder Woodland

Hey family! Sounds like you guys had a crazy busy week. Tuesday, I got quite the adrenaline rush. I almost got hit by a drunk driver and had to literally dive out of the way. Elder Hyer thought I was going home for sure, he couldn't believe that I made it out of the way. Thank goodness for quick reflexes. We also saw a boda man who was plastered drunk. I don't know how he was even walking. We saw him walk (stumble) out of the bar and then climb on his boda. He only made it about a hundred feet before he just tipped over. It was awesome. I found a place that sells raisins here! They're super expensive but as an occasional treat they're okay. We had exchanges with the zone leaders in Jinja. The best part was I got to take a real shower. A HOT shower!! It was unreal. So crazy the little things that I took for granted at home. Like carpet, the day I get home I’m going to take a nap…on the carpet!
 No baptisms this week because the zone leaders couldn't come to interview my investigators. We have quite a few people who are ready. 

    



Then that's me with Sister Whinnie. She had her farewell Sunday and she's about to leave on her mission. She's someone that I'd consider a real friend that I've made here, so it's kinda sad that she's going to be leaving. We're going to go to her house for dinner tonight, hopefully everything is cooked all the way through lol. She has been called to Zimbabwe! She leaves with Elder Ojakol, the one who's been living with us. They'll go to the MTC in South Africa together. I got a picture of a letter from Bailee in Belize. Her group leader sent it to me.  It made me laugh big time. She's experiencing some of the same stuff as I am right now. Poor living conditions, doing service and work, no internet, and poverty.  Really proud of how hard she's working. That's legit hard work and she's there for almost 3 weeks. I can't wait to hear more about her experience. I just found out though that I'm going to be spending the next few days in Jinja. They're doing a deep clean on our house, so we must leave for a few days.  I'm stoked to get our house cleaned and sprayed for bugs. It's so filthy right now. I have no clue where we're gonna stay or how it's gonna work out. Who knows hahaha. Hopefully someone will tell us soon. President just called me like 5 minutes ago and just told me we had to be gone tomorrow and the next day and didn't say much else.
I've heard every member a missionary before but now I see why that's so important. Our church is so much more than just a church. It is a way of life and the way to eternal life. I've learned a lot being out here. I love you all so much! Hugs-Dylan

Week 23 in Lugazi with Elder Woodland

 

 

  

 

We had a pretty good week. The world cup is going on right now and this week the Muslim fasting period ended, so it was a huge celebration all week. We got bounced A LOT because of all this. Everyone is too busy celebrating. Tuesday, we had a slammed day and taught  18 lessons. It was so crazy, we were so dang busy. When we got home I went straight to bed. I feel like we walked like 20 miles that day. There was a guy who offered to give me a Noongueza tattoo that day as well. Tempting, I know, who doesn't wanna risk picking up HIV from an African tattoo needle. You'll be glad, and shocked I'm sure, to know that I turned him down….This time. We had exchanges with the zone leaders on Thursday. I was hoping to get to go with Elder Millecam, but I went with his companion Elder Kagson instead. We got bounced for every single appointment, so we did tracting all day long. We got 14 new investigators though. That day Elder Woodland also got extremely sick. He started throwing up during a lesson and didn't stop until the next morning. We called President and Sister Collings but couldn’t get a hold of them due to travel. So I called the area doctor. Elder Hyer and I gave him a priesthood blessing and things changed within the hour. It was cool to see a miracle like that. Poor guy has been wrecked for the last few days. He's a lot better now!  Been thinking a lot about Dads this week and I sure am grateful for mine. Dad has been such a good example to me and he's such a good guy. I really love him tons! Happy Fathers Day Dad!   The boys will get a kick out of this story. Saturday for lunch I ate something that I really wish I didn't. A ridiculously hot pepper called Hell peppers. I didn't know the name in English until after I ate it and almost died hahaha. I bought these little red peppers from a mama who didn't speak any English in the market. She tried to warn me and told me that they were too hot, that even the Indians won't eat them because they were too hot. I thought she was exaggerating. She wasn't. After I ate it my mouth and stomach and throat felt like they were on fire for the rest of the day. Nothing brought relief either, I must've drank like 3 gallons of water. Even my hands hurt just from handling the pepper, and I touched my cheek and my cheek started to burn! It was soooo bad, I was miserable for a little while. Everyone thought it was so dang funny though, Andrew couldn't believe that I ate one. Those peppers are not for man, I will never eat one again. On Sunday we were able to get Matia confirmed, and then this next Sunday hopefully Mercy will get confirmed. Malayka loved the book of Mormon stories book and Britton loved the coloring book. I gave the other coloring book to a girl named Joan (in the picture). She's the tailor Mourine's daughter. They loved them.  I got the package btw!!!! It came with unreal timing, I was missing you guys SOOOO badly. Man did I love that package. I really needed it, I was dying to hear from you guys. I loved the ties you sent, I wore one of them on Saturday and the other to church on Sunday. And I love the glasses. I know what you're thinking, that I need to cut my hair- don't worry I already did -hahaha. That picture of Woodland is after I white washed him in pool last Monday. That means I sunk all my balls and the eight ball before he sunk a single one. I made him take a picture with all his balls, so I could hang it up in the apartment hahaha.  So the door is at the cathedral. Every one of the doors there is hand carved and they're pretty amazing. I'm trying to convince President to let me stay in Lugazi one more transfer after this. Things with Woodland are good, we get along really well most of the time. I really wanna spend another one with him. We have a lot of fun together. Ya the huts are in the middle of the jungle. It's a trip to get there. Makes for some cool pictures though. No missionaries have ever been out there, but hardly anyone speaks English so it's slim pickings. My Luganda is getting good though. I can pray and teach quite a bit of the lessons in it. I can understand most things too, I just have a limited vocabulary when it comes to responding. But if I get transferred it'll be a new language. You walk 40 minutes in any direction and it's a different dialect or an entire different language. By the way-  I did take care of things with the neighbor’s chicken. I bought her a new, and improved chicken, with no chopped off head, I got a good deal on it- so it was a FAT chicken. Also got her and all her kids chips for dinner. Chips are just fries. She was super happy and even tried to feed us during the week. Love and hugs-Elder Payne

Week 22 in Lugazi with Elder Woodland

  

 

Hey Family! I missed you a lot this week! The next time that you send a package you'll have to throw some raisins in there. And then you can just load it up with candy. I eat healthy everyday out here, I should be fine if you send me some junk. Reese's are always missed dearly. I love those so much. Jelly beans are always good, Oreos, basically anything that I love from home. My options are very limited here. I miss tons of stuff!  Guess what made my week? I finally got some of the letters that you guys sent! I got a bunch from Corbin that made me laugh my head off, but super homesick and then I got a really good one from you, mom that made me want to give you a hug.
 The week was pretty good. Really rainy. There was a political assassination this week and on top of that some corrupt mayor was released from prison so there has been a bit of civil unrest here. The people aren't too happy so there have been marches and riots all week. We didn't know that it was going on, so when we got to town, we just stayed at the church for a while. We had a lot of good lessons this week though and we were super busy. Sunday, I gave a talk on the signs of the second coming and I'm pretty sure half the branch is terrified of it now. -opps We also had two baptisms Sunday and the lady who got baptized is the mother to one of the other girls we baptized. Pretty dang cool. We are still teaching Malayka. She is a super cool lady, and she's a single mom. Her son, Britton is 5. But she lives with her mom and her sister and they all kinda take care of each other. I am hoping to get to baptize her before I leave this area.
By the way-they call me Kinyama. It means muscles. I get it a lot and I love it. - I think it's hilarious