1.27.14

Well this week was pretty good. Nothing to exciting except for Elder Bednar coming!!!!!!!!! That was seriously amazing.

Tuesday was just a normal day of work. As always the day we planned out didn't happen, but we did find a few good people. In the evening we found a family that are super duper intelligent. They spoke awesome english and they had a huge super nice house. The mom was almost too religious and kept talking about how "spiritual" she is and was showing us scars on her knees from praying so much. Yea its kinda ridiculous. But our lesson was awesome and they listened the entire time. They actually didn't have any complaints about the restoration which was good. Then our last lesson was with a Recent Convert called Flavia. She and her husband got married and baptized like a month before I got here to Entebbe. Well she was telling us on Tuesday that they were having some marriage/relationship problems. It was really sad to listen to because both of them are awesome when we are there, but I guess its what happens when we aren't there. So we are going to try our best to keep them a happy family without getting to much into their personal lives. I just hate when people are having bad relationships.

Wednesday was amazing!!! At around noon we started heading to the stake center in Kololo Kampala. We got there at around 2:30. We just sat around talking to members and other missionaries for an hour. Then the meeting started at 4:00. It was Elder Bednar, Elder Clayton of the presidency of the seventy, the entire Southeast Africa area presidency, Elder Suti an area seventy, and all of their wives. A pretty big group of General Authorities. It was a special adult meeting for the Kampala Stake. Before the meeting they asked the members of the stake to read 4 documents/ talks. The Family Proclamation, Power in the Priesthood, the Gospel Culture, and More Diligent and Concerned in the Home. Then the meeting was basically an open discussion where everyone got to contribute about what they learned and they were able to ask questions. The meeting went for 3 hours!! It was amazing. I learned so many things.

Elder Bednar talked about how the gospel is all about CHANGING and IMPROVING. There was a statement that he said at least 15 times. "If you keep doing what you have always done, then you will always get what you have always got." We always need to be looking at things in our lives that we can change to make ourselves better. Another thing that Elder Bednar talked about is how sometimes we get annoyed or bored when they always talk about the same thing in General conference. He said that if we don't like what they talk about in conference, then look in the mirror. We are the ones that determine what is talked about in conference. For example, if everyone paid tithing then they would stop talking about it, but because not everyone pays tithing they have to keep talking about it. So if you don't like it, then you need change and help others to change as well. Most of the meeting was talking about family and the priesthood. I cant describe everything through email because there was just so much stuff! Elder Bednar said it was the first ever meeting where there was so many ordained witnesses of Christ in a setting where the members could ask questions and talk about what they learned. He said that because it was so successful they are now going to continue doing it!

So that was Wednesday. The rest of the week went pretty good. Sunday was awesome. During sacrament I was reading the old testament. A couple weeks ago I decided it would be good to know more about the old testament. So i am reading it during the sacrament at church now. It is so much more interesting than I used to think it was! I have already learned a ton about Abraham and I am only in like Chapter 15 of Genesis. Anyways, during sacrament meeting Tony was confirmed!!! He is such an awesome guy. He has been through soo much since his decision to be baptized. He will be such a big support at church here.

To answer mom's question, the font is made of metal. We have that one because the church is just a rented building so there is no font inside. All of the rented meetinghouses in Uganda have a tank similar to that outside. There are only a few church built chapels in the Kampala Stake. Everywhere else has rented buildings. They just take time. The church built chapels have super nice fonts inside.

The cheesecake pudding was seriously fantastic! I got like a month ago so I don't remember anything inside. For some reason I remember you stuffed it with some money or something but I'm not sure. That was a long time ago!!

Holy Cow there are a lot of people from Palmer Alaska going on missions! When did it happen?!?!?! Haha. Yea I email aaron, hunter, packer, and cedric every couple weeks.

Good luck with the Green Room! It actually sounds kinda fun. I still remember doing the pads on the walls in the gym. That was crazy. There was soooo many people that came! How are those pads doing anyways?

The dry season is kinda coming to an end. They say the rainy season is supposed to start in a couple weeks. So it hasn't been as ridiculously hot as the last few weeks, but its still hot and really humid because we are right next to the lake. The humidity makes me sweat like crazy and it makes candy like starburst and gum get all mushy and gross. But i guess thats just what I get for being here. I am going to freeze when I come home! Enjoy the nice 40 degree weather in Alaska! I would love that over the heat here :)

Have a good week everyone. I love you all. Remember your name. Remember who you are. Stuff like that. haha :)

Love Elder Mzungu