We had a football (soccer) match at this big abandoned hotel called hotel Africa

 One night it rained harder than I have ever seen before and our whole compound was flooded and Elder Osei and Elder Selby got drenched!

 

5 bears for 5 dollars... Sweet deal. Wish i would have gotten some.

 This was another day that it rained a ton and we didn't have any umbrellas...

  This small girl broke her arm and this is how they tried to fix it... not great medical care here but at least she's really cute!

  Our baptism of 9 people!

  Church Christmas Party!

 "Intertement Center" There are a lot of these...usually just a TV and some drinks for "Entertainment"

11 For Nothing

There is really nothing significant about 11 months besides the fact that it is one month away from 1 year. Just think about that for a minute. 1 year on mission we tell God thank you. You aren't supposed to count the time but when the 18th comes around obviously you know how long you've been out. But I couldn't be happier! Well, if I had some nice cold ice cream maybe that would help but let's move on now.

So this week was a pretty normal week for the most part with the exception of last Monday which will be addressed at the end of this letter :)

We have two people that are progressing towards baptism for the 4th of February. One is a girl named Siah and then the other is a boy named Johnson who is 16 years old. Johnson's parents are working on getting their marriage certificate so that they can also be baptized soon, but after thinking about it for a while we decided that we shouldn't make him wait because he really wants to be baptized and is smart and accepts everything. So we're looking forward to their baptisms very soon! 

There are 3 boys that we are teaching that are the children of one woman who is a member of the church. The boys are really good but we had kind of a funny experience with the more intelligent brother this week. He is really accepting of everything, but when we taught him about the authority, or the priesthood, he was like yeah I want to get the authority so that I can start my own church! We were like ehhh... Maybe we need to explain some things better... So the next day we came and talked about how there should only be one church. We used Ephesians 4:5 and also 1 Nephi 14:10 to help him better understand that plenty churches is not a good thing. We tried not to do it in a mean way so I don't think he was offended and he said he understood. They generally have good intentions, the reason he wanted to start a church was to spread the gospel but we told him that he should just serve a mission. He's super funny actually.

Okay just one story was kind of funny this week from this guy we met. We could definitely smell a little bit of alcohol on his breath and he was asking like a million questions but we started to talk about God and who He is finally. So we asked him what he thought God looked like and he was like "well, I think God is probably like maybe 70 to 75% spirit and maybe like 25% body." To you that probably isn't funny at all but sometimes the answers these people give to questions we ask just really make me wonder what is going on in their brains.

Besides that everything is normal. I played basketball this morning and I'm really bad so I'm sure everyone will be able to beat me when I get home... I also love you all.

Oh and last Monday I cut my hair. I've always wanted to buzz it and I figured that I'm in Africa and it doesn't really matter if I'm ugly or not (nor does it ever honestly) so now is the time to try! So I buzzed it and this is what I look like now! Just be grateful you don't have to see me every day :)

Elder Bush

My People

What's good my American friends? Hope your lives are all splendid.

So this week was pretty good out here in Upper Caldwell, Monrovia, Montserrado County, Liberia. It is really hot but it really can't compare to what it was like when I first got here almost one year ago... Think about that. I still sweat a lot but I can't complain. 

Let me get straight to the important stuff. We went to teach some boys who are the children of a member of the church on Saturday and I really raised my rep as an African. I don't know if they don't have ladders here or what but cutting palm nut out of palm trees is no small task I tell you. There is a palm nut that is high up in the palm trees here that the people use to make this certain food that always hurts my stomach. So in order to get it they get a long bamboo stick that has little notches on it that you use to climb up it and then use a machete to cut down the palm leaves and then the palm nut. So that's what I did on Saturday. I climbed the bamboo stick (stick is singular, only one there) and cut down the palm leaves and palm nut with a machete... Unfortunately before I could finish the bamboo broke that I was standing on and I fell and now I'm coming home. No I landed on my feet and it was really cool but I was bummed I didn't finish the job. Next time.

Okay, other than that we are having some good progress with the people we are teaching. We didn't really have anyone this week that was new to teach but those that we are seeing are doing well. I've been really happy about some people that have not been coming to church that we saw and sat down with this week. We met a guy named Augustine who has not been coming to church for a really long time and had a really good lesson with him. He told us that he knows the church is true, he just has felt that the devil has been making him feel weak to come. I don't know why but I love meeting with less actives for the first time. The first lesson with a less active is always when I feel the spirit most strongly. It's like everything in that lesson just comes out without me even thinking about what I'm saying or asking. He was really appreciative of us coming and said that he would be coming back. He even bore his testimony at the end of the lesson saying the church is true, the Book of Mormon is true and Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. It was really cool and made me feel good. 

We also had interviews with Mission President this week and I love that man. I had a lot of random questions that he was so patient with and answered so eloquently focusing on the truths of the gospel. 

Love you guys so much! Keep the faith!

 Me and some children that never leave me alone

 

 Me and a super cute African child

Elder Bush

No Bad News-o

Hello my friends, 

Sorry I didn't write anything last week I just forgot or something I'm not really sure. It was a decent week but it had the ups and downs as it always does. We went to a traditional wedding for some investigators that we hope will soon be getting their marriage certificate. (In Liberia to be considered legally married you need to have a marriage certificate from the government, the traditional wedding that they do doesn't really count unless they get the paper that says they are legally married which is not small thing I tell you). It was really interesting but also kind of long but I wasn't feeling too well anyways so it was okay with me. Traditional marriage is kind of weird but basically it's all about money. The man's side has to pay the bride price for the other side and it takes a long time to finally finish everything but it's interesting. They asked me to say a prayer over their marriage and I thought they were just asking me to say a closing prayer but when I got up there they were like kneeling in front of me and so I said the prayer over their marriage... Super weird and I asked Mission President later and he was like yeah you weren't supposed to do that but you didn't know so don't worry about it. So funny but also kinda cool. 

The man that got married also wore the African cut off sleeve suit to church yesterday and it was super dope the man was flexing. I don't know if I'll be able to send a picture hopefully! 

This week was really good actually. It felt like it went by really fast. We had a zone training meeting on Thursday and they talked a lot about obedience and although I'm not doing anything wrong, it was a good reminder for me to focus more on being even more exactly obedient. There was also a new missionary there whose name is Elder Hinson. He will be the last missionary coming to this area for a very long time because no Elders are going home until August. I felt a little sorry for him because he just seemed really nervous and just really new. It just reminded me a lot of when I first came because it was not easy. So I'm praying that he keeps working and stops talking about home so much becasue that's about all he talked about with me... And Star Wars. He likes Star Wars.

We struggled a lot this week with people being home when they said they would be home which was really frustrating. We didn't have as many lessons for that reason but we had a great turn out at church. We had a lot of members at church and 32 investigators attend Sacrament on Sunday which is the most that I have had since I have been on my mission. The work is really moving!

All is going pretty well besides that. Can't complain about anything really. We're teaching some really good people. I feel like the people that we are teaching are either really great and willing to accept everything or they are just not accepting anything but that is part of the mission. We even had a couple that we have been teaching ever since I got to this area tell us that they are fixing their marriage certificate and they already paid the money for it and everything. It was such a great blessing to hear that from them after all the prayers and encouragement that we have had for them. So grateful that they truly want to follow their Savior and make a decision and sacrifice that will benefit them in their life so much. I don't know if I will be in this area when they get it or not, but of course it is not about me, but the family themselves that they are making this incredible step in their life. 

Besides that I think everything is pretty normal and cool. It's super hot here which I'm sure is hard to imagine in the cold of the winter at home but I'm sweating like crazy again so that's cool. I also found more Macaroni and Cheese so... Yeah.

Love you all and hope your week is wonderful!

Elder Bush