We are here. Liberia is nuts.

Okay so I'm in Liberia now and its the most insane thing I've ever encountered. So first of all let me tell you a couple things about Liberia. First, during the civil war apparently the power source that Liberia had got blown up and they still haven't fixed it. So, if anyone wants to use power they need to use a generator. We have one at our little house that runs from 7 at night to 5 in the morning so we can use the fan at night which is really a blessing. Another thing, be grateful for little things like America's proper waste management system. It may not be perfect, but its a thousand times better than it is here. There is trash EVERYWHERE. The sad thing is that there are no garbage cans or anything so even when I buy something I just throw it on the ground because there's nothing else to do with it. That hurts my soul. Besides that the people here are dirt poor. And I mean dirt poor. They live in little shacks most of the time that probably don't have running water and maybe not even a working toilet. They have nothing but they are so sweet. My cousin Josh and I are probably having the exact opposite experience because I will teach probably around 30 lessons a week but I also live under a mosquito net and don't have running or clean water a majority of the time so that's the trade off I guess. He may not teach as many lessons but I'm sure his living conditions are much better. (Josh is in the Stockholm, Sweden mission)
 

Anyways, my companion is once again a Nigerian which is fine but he's difficult to understand. Nigeria is like the Texas of Africa because people are often arrogant and pretty loud about the fact that they're from there but he's pretty cool about it. Ghanean people are very sweet and so are Liberian people. They are hard to understand but I'm getting better at it. I've been having a rough time teaching as well but its my first week so I think I need to give myself a little break. It'll come with time. It's kind of cool too because a few times already people have approached us and asked if we could teach them. They are so humble. If you ask them what God has blessed them with they will give you a list of things from their family to their home and their means which are small.

My companion and I are opening a new area pretty much and he doesn't know much about it and neither do I. Baptisms will come but it may take a little more time than in other areas but we have plenty of people to teach. Too many really which makes scheduling difficult which is just crazy to think about. We have too many people to teach? Nuts.

Our apartment isn't bad. I take shower from a bucket of water at night that we get from a faucet outside that only works sometimes during the day and not at all at night. Or we get it from a well down the street. So I'll be pretty happy to take a real shower in two years.

Besides that, the food isn't as spicy so far as I thought it would be but I'm sure it will get spicier. It's mostly the fact that it's pretty spicy and then you eat a lot of it. Also, I was offered a soda and I drank it for the first time in over two years so that's sad (Steven made a New Year's resolution in 2014 to stop drinking soda) but I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose weight anyways because I sweat like crazy. The branch president's wife makes us dinner every night which is probably the best part about this area. She's super sweet and we love her. 

One story I'll share real quick with you. My companion is district leader so he has to go do the baptismal interviews and so we went with two elders who needed to do that and while we waited I played with the kids. All of the kids love me because they never see white people and sometimes they call me China man which is kinda funny. Anyways, I was just throwing them a ball of trash that they were playing with and they couldn't have been happier. It was so funny and they were all so sweet. And they were super excited when I wanted to take a picture which I'll try to send. They all want to touch me and it makes me laugh.

Church was really cool too, they have a decent building and the members are all sweet. A couple wanted to take a picture with me after too probably because they don't see many white people at their church or ever really. 

Okay sorry that was a lot but a lot has happened this week. I should have listened to my lovely mother and brought sunscreen because that would have made life less painful and sad, but the sunburn is getting better now and I should be able to get sunscreen too. They have some American things but they're usually really expensive. I'll try to get back to everyone I can but this dumpy little cafe we're in only gives us an hour. 

This first week has been really hard on me and I've struggled a lot. I miss home and all of my family and friends and clean things. But I know it will get better and that the Lord will strengthen me. Everyone says it speeds up after a couple of months and I'm sure that's true. I'll get used to everything and end up loving it here, I just need to power through this rough time right now getting adjusted to everything. 

I love you all so much and love hearing from you! I'll talk to you next Monday because that's our P day.

Elder Bush

P.S. Also be so so so so so grateful for washing machines because we hand wash everything and it takes forever and it sucks but that's okay. Oh, and rainy season is coming up in April sometime so I guess it rains hard all day every day. Awesome. Love you all :)

Elder Bush