No Watah Again-o

Yeah Hello! How your body-o? I promised a good letter this week so here you go.

Yes I can still speak proper English, although I saw one of the American Elders who was with me at the MTC and he was like woah, you really have a Liberian accent. I really think that I inherited it from my mom because even the Liberians say I speak it very well and sound like them so that's cool. Gift of tongues in a way I guess.

First of all, whoever is in control of Paynesville is causing us to suffah I tell you. Aye man, for some reason there is no running water at all so this whole week we were using water from the tank and now we have to fetch water from a well if we need water hahahaha. Thinking about it now I don't know why it seems funny but it is. I guess it's kind of cool because when my own child goes on a mission and complains I can tell him that I used to draw water from a well on my mission so suck it up. It's really not that bad though because at least the generator is still working so we have power at night. I shouldn't complain, my life is good. (I asked him about how the well works, this is his reply: "The well is just literally like a well you might see in an old movie. It's just a cement cirlce that goes down really deep. It had a gas can that they've cut holes into so it will sink in the water. It's super deep and you drop down the gas container and pull it back up with a rope that they've attached it to. Kind of cool honestly.")

In other news! This week we had 3 more people baptized and comfirmed so that was supah sweet. Hawa Morris, Theresa Goffa, and her son Tony Obina were all baptized on Saturday and confirmed Sunday. Tony is pretty small (he's 9), but I could really tell how happy Hawa and Theresa were to be baptized. It had been a long process for the both of them due to complications with some commandments, but I'm so grateful that they made such a wonderful decision to be baptized.

This week I felt really good about all the lessons we were able to teach and the people that we were able to meet. I really thought that we had some quality discussions where we were able to get through to some people. On Saturday we even met with a woman who said that she had been wondering how she could become a member because she admired the church. We taught a lesson with a man that same day where I felt prompted to introduce the Book of Mormon right away that went really well. We called everyone Saturday night and again in the morning to remind them to come to church. We were really expecting a lot to attend and when the time came almost no one was there. It rained a little in the morning, but even people who said they were on their way over in the morning were not there. We thought that definitely this woman who said she wanted to be a member and many more would be there, so we were a little sad, but of course not discouraged. We know that next week things will be better and we'll just continue to work hard. I know that missionaries in other places are experiencing so much more discouragement and hardship than we are, having one bad week as far as chruch attendance. I am grateful that the 3 we baptized the day before were all there on time and confirmed! So no wahala. No Palava. (No problem).

Also, this week one of our recent converts started to teach me some Pelee. It is a dialect in Liberia (there are plenty) that is pretty common and it's kind of fun. Hopefully I can learn it really well so I can be full on African. Although that is not what I'm focused on! ;)

Overall, I enjoyed this week and again it is continuing to move forward quickly. We had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy do a Mission Tour here and so he came and spoke to us about our missions and how we can be better missionaries. I really learned a lot from him and really hope to be a missionary at all times and not just some of the time like he said. We enjoyed a nice lunch of chicken and rice afterwards too, and it was fried chicken so it was supah nice.

Finally, yesterday one of our recent converts did not come to church because she was feeling ill, so we went to visit her after church. We read in the Book of Mormon with her a little bit. As she read I reflected back on the first time that we met with her. I recalled how incoherent and nearly incapable her reading abilities were at the time. However, because she had been reading the Book of Mormon diligently, her reading skills have vastly improved. It's remarkable the progress that she has made since we first met her. It brings me so much joy that becoming a member of the church helps a person grow not only spiritually, but intellectually as well. It was really such a wonderful thing to see.

That is all for now! I believe that soon I will be able to send pictures so just remain patient please! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Elder Bush

Anotha One

Another week finished in the coolest place on Earth (not temperature wise of course). This week had its ups and downs for sure but all in all I guess you could say that it was a decent week.

I was a little disappointed with the amount of lessons that we were able to teach this week honestly. It seemed as if every day there was something that inhibited us from teaching more people. This was the first week that I have taught less than 30 lessons so far on my mission. It wasn't that we weren't working hard, but that people weren't at home, I was throwing up, or meetings went really long. I know I shouldn't make any excuses, but I guess I just felt like the work did not move as well this week as it should have. My companion and I have already discussed how next week is going to be much better and much more productive. I'm excited for the improvements to come in this coming week. 

In other news, I'm really starting to probably get a little annoying with the way that I talk now. I've begun to pick up a lot of the phrases that Liberians say and you might laugh at first but I know it is going to get really irritating. I just find their sayings so funny. I say Heyyy mannn a lot because they say that a bunch. I'm finding that my speech is starting to be altered almost completely now. The Mission President's wife called me the other day to ask me about something and she couldn't understand me because of the way that I spoke. I thought that was hilarious. She also reminded me that I should try to teach them to speak good English... Wish me luck with that one. Most people say that I speak like a Liberian man now. So the coloqua or however you spell it is coming pretty well. Maybe I've received the gift of tongues who knows. 

I wanted to share a story from probably my favorite recent convert that he told us this week. Again it is the wonderful brother Wah. Brother Wah is like a brick wall in the sense that nothing seems like it could get between him and the church because of how committed to it he is now. Before we met Brother Wah, he was applying for a job to be a drafter for some people, meaning just like building design/concrete type thing I'm not exactly sure honestly. Anyways, this gone Monday he went to talk with the people and they offered him the job. The job was $450 US a month, which in Liberia is like a ton of money. Seriously. If you're making $450 a month you're rollin in money basically. He said that the contract that they wanted however required him to work on Sundays and even conflicted with sacrament meeting. He told them that he couldn't work on Sundays and turned them down. They even offered $50 more dollars and he still said no. I really just was so impressed and so grateful for his strength in staying away from something that he knew to be wrong. I just truly hope that if I come across a similar problem one day that I will be able to call upon the same strength that Brother Wah had that day and continues to have. He is an example to me and others as well I believe.

That was a really great experience and many other things from this week were great that I wish I could share all of them, but sadly I am not that mighty in writing as I am in speaking ;) So next week I can include some more and I promise to really try and find a way to send some pictures soon because it's hard keeping all these wonderful and crazy experiences to myself!

I love each and every one of you and I pray for all of you every day. Don't worry about Africa boy, he is enjoying life with the Lions and Elephants and things. 

Hope to talk to you all soon!

Elder Bush

 

PS I forgot to add!

I've gotten word that there's a chance another part of this mission could open up somewhat soon in a place called Maryland. Right now I guess they're trying to fix a bridge that leads there, but apparently once they do that they'll probably open up that part of the mission and I'm really hoping that I would get to be one of the first missionaries to go there because it would be super cool and we would probably baptize like 50 people a week. Maryland is like at the bottom of Liberia and really far away from anything so it would be nuts and also super cool so I'm praying that happens for real. I know it would make my mom happy :)

Okay that's all, bye bye-o!

Training But No Raining

Sweet sweet, sweeto. Another week, another six days full of adventure.

The beginning of this week I was with a Ugandan Elder who lives in the same apartment as me. We were both called to train so we were both waiting for our new companions to come to Liberia. So we just had like 2 days together.

Wednesday my new companion came and he is bigger than I am that's for sure. He is from Oregon but his parents are Tongan. He's super nice and is really trying hard to be a good missionary so I think we will do great together. I pretty much said everything in the lessons this week which was fine, but I'm sure he will begin to put in his input soon. His name is Elder Toloke and he is probably a little bit shorter than me and about 280. I think I might kill him by the time his training is finished though because of how much we walk and the speed at which we walk. I had him lead for a little one day and I noticed that he walked considerably slower than I do. So hopefully he doesn't die but we will see. 

I was a little nervous about training, but I could see how the Lord blessed me this week. When we would teach lessons and my companion wouldn't say much because he's new, it honestly felt like I just remembered everything I had ever studied. I began to quote scriptures that I'm pretty sure I had only read one time and knew exactly where to find the answer to questions that people asked. My knowledge of the New Testament is especially improving which I really enjoy. 1 Corinthians might be my favorite book. But I digress...

We had a lot of lessons this week once again and I'm hoping that soon we will be able to contact some new people and help them get to church. Rainy season is fast approaching and that will be a really easy excuse for people to make as to why they didn't come to church which will be irritating. Although, this week it was still super hot and it only rained on one night I think. 

Now that I know I'll be in this area for my first six months, I'm not really sure how to feel about it. I really like it here, but I keep thinking six months in the same area is a pretty long time. I know it will go fast, but I just hope I get to see all the different parts of Liberia!

Besides that, I'm not sure there is too much else to say about this week. I'm excited to train my new companion and help him to be the best missionary that he can be. I'm loving the work and everything else that Liberia has to offer. 

I don't think that I'll be sending pictures once again this week. It can be a big struggle since Liberia is pretty slow when it comes to technology and whatnot. Hopefully one day I'll just be able to send all of them but for now my options are limited since my camera can't send pictures directly through email and wifi. It needs a device or something I don't know. One fine day.

Love you all and I miss you. Hope you are having the best life.

 

Elder Bush