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Monday, September 26, 2011

Elder Moss & Elder Osifo

Hello Family,
 
How is the other side of heaven? Things over here are going good. We are staying super busy and working our tails off. Mission work is very interesting.   The best way that I can explain is like a parent and a child.   Think of how you would be if your child was sick.   What is the first thing that you would want to do.  Obviously, you want to get them help.  You feel sorrow because you love them. Well are you going to let them go to any ol person to help them out? Obviously not. You want the best, most obedient, well trained person to take care of your child. That is the same as missionary work.  If you are not obedient, if you are not the best person that you can be, why would Heavenly Father trust you with one of his precious children. What would you do if you were in His shoes. Think about it. The rules and guidelines are there for a reason and yes, sometimes it sucks but with obedience comes blessings. We are not able to see the eternal realm of things but we can have faith that are leaders do!!  So I guess this is a note to all my missionary friends.  If you are struggling, make sure that you check yourself first  before you blame others.  Not saying that everyone who struggles is disobedient but we can always be better.
 
So I don't have much to say.  We had a big baptism this week. Six people and the Neves brought another 5. I was kind of sad because one person was missing. Anyway, we figured something was going on and we would see her and the fam on Sunday. But no, they were missing.  I didn't know what was up except that I felt like I needed to go to their house and visit them.  So we went and visited and they said that they had the problem resolved.  They gave me some story that I felt was bogus.  Something about how they had confusion because of a phone. So I guess what needed to happen was some heavenly inspired questions.  I said a prayer and I was prompted to just talk about dad.  So the story is that I baptized the husband and now the wife is getting baptized.  The husband has the priesthood so I wanted him to baptize her.  So I told the story about dad baptizing mom and how happy and honored and proud to say that about my dad.  I told them how grateful I am to be able to say that my dad baptized my whole family.  I told her that is the why he needs to baptize her, not me. Turns out that was the whole dispute.  She didn't think that he was ready to baptize her because he was brand new in the church and that is why he wanted me to baptize her.  But now, because of the story I told, she is all gung ho to be baptized again.  So thank you for that dad and mom.

Church was good.  It's crazy to see how the rain can disturb the members so much.  It's not easy to come to church when it is raining,
 
So I finally got the package (don't know how it happened, but I am glad).  It is so sweet I love you mom and dad and Rissa.  The camelback is awesome.  Ahh, I tell you, it sure makes hiking the hills better.   Everything else in the package is great too. The sweets are a nice piece of heaven.   Thanks for the cookie mixes too.  I am scared to use our oven again because the last time the whole thing caught on fire and yes, I mean the whole back was on fire.   I was running so fast to get to the propane tank to turn it off and unplug it before it sucked in the tank and KABOOM!!!!  Don't worry.  It didn't explode and I am alive still but I am scared to try the oven again any time soon haha.
 
Me and my companion are doing good. My new desire is just to try to create a Zion celestial home. To make the best with what I have.  I want to implement everything that I want to do at home and it is working.  From prayers to cleaning.  To the words we say and the actions to others. Now is the time to establish how I want my future family to be. What better place to learn than here.  I want to become the best husband and father for that one beautiful daughter of God.   I love all you all so much.  Godspeed.
 
Love Elder Moss

 

Monday, September 19, 2011

 
Dear family,
 
How are things going over there? That seems to be the start of every single one of my emails. So how are things?  To start, no I haven't got any packages and/or mail for a while because the post office is still on strike, as well as all other government jobs.  It makes me really mad that they are on strike but I can't really blame them considering they have not been paid in a couple of years. I don't know why they continued to work for years when they never got paid.  I think I would make it a couple of months before I would decide to say, "if you don't pay me, I wont work." The pay that school teachers get here is really ridiculous.   You would not even believe it. Some will get round about 40 to 50 us dollars a month. Ya that is real!  How does anyone expect to live on a mere 40 dollars a month. I mean just for a 50 lb bag of rice costs 20 bones. So the poor people here, yes they are suffering.  So hmmm, I guess I haven't told you much about these things.   The food and things here can actually be expensive.   It is because everything has to be imported.  Luckily, I have enough money.

Well I guess that I better tell mom and dad happy 26th anniversary!!!  Wow you guys are old,  haha!  No, you are doing good.  My companion was actually thinking that you guys were my brother and sister. That is no joke!  Most of the people say, "wow your parents are so young!" That is because everyone here that is 40 looks like they are dead or they probably are dead by 40. That's what happens when you walk the side of a mountain everyday and all you eat is lawn clippings once a day or twice if you are lucky.  So I hope that you guys have a happy week and you have a good celebration of your anniversary!

This week I have come to learn or I am trying to learn that life's greatest gifts normally come wrapped up in adversity!  When you think that things are not that great they probably are that great and it probably will get worse. This week was a nice smack in the face. I don't want to sound to down but I really have a beef with the new district leader. He is lucky I am the new Elder Moss because the old one would have knocked him a new one.  Instead I held it in.   Well kind of ~ that's why I have a punching bag.  We are really having some disagreements.  I am really, really organized and I hate laziness. If you are not 15 minutes early, well then you are late. I tried and tried to get everything set for my interviews to be done for my candidates but he would not work with me.   Finally, at 9 the night before, he settles on a time.  So I luckily got a hold of them and convinced them to come to the chapel. Once they got there he was late. So I am trying to put on a baptism as well as get interviews done. And because he was late, some of them had to leave so they were pushed to the next day which was Sunday. They were there and he was late again. And again they had to go. So now today we will try again. But that is not the worst of it.  I have  come to deal with that kind of thing. This is what chaps my hide. We had a mother and daughter interview yesterday. The husband is a strong member and the wife and daughter are ready. The daughter is 9, need I say more.  He interviews them both and gives me back the paperwork and says nothing to me and goes to sacrament meeting.  So we plan the baptism, tell them the time and everything and I go to my meetings. Later that night, in the apartment, he calls me into his room. He wants to talk about this 9 year old girl.  He tells me that he needs to see her again.  So I say ok but why?   He said that she needs to know more about the law of chastity before she can get baptized.  Oh, I was flamed.   She is 9 is years old!  What 9 year old needs to know the law of chastity!  So I calmed down and then he tells me that I need to tell them that we have to postpone.  So I was given the dirty deed of telling them.  I  had 87 people get interviewed and the only one that has not passed is a nine year old girl, what a joke! 
 
So I have met all the new missionaries and they are good.   It was nice to see them.   I met elder Donaldson.  He is cool and he is in Bo. Oh sweet Bo!  He is lucky. Also this week we got dvd players.  That will be fun, not.  It is only to use for training and that is the only dvd's we have.  So one of my new challenges is English teacher.   Any idea's?   My companion can't read or write.  And, yes, that is not a joke.  He has never read any of the standard works or anything because he can hardly read.  I don't know how he got here but oh well.  It's going to be a rough transfer but at least he has a good attitude and we are going to try to make the best of things. I love all you guys so much.   Thank you guys for everything.  I love you guys!
 
Love Elder Kev

Monday, September 12, 2011



 Hello family,

 How are things going for you guys? I guess that dad says that work is slowing down? I really hope that it starts to pick up. It is never a good feeling to have work be slow. So, mom, you had a very busy week it sounds. Thanks for going and supporting friends my friends with their weddings.  Most especially, Shawn.  I hope that he is happy.
 
How was the weekend?  Mine was good and full of a whole lot of stuff. I want to be completely honest, this week was a grind.  But I made it through just fine. The work has really been busy. Something that was on my agenda was to put on a fireside.  Ok, not a fireside, it was more of a devotional. Man I had my hands full especially since I did most of it myself.  We had a few talks and watched the movie "the restoration". Man, that movie gives me the chils when I watch it.   It is very powerful. Then I talked.  I was going to talk on the Book of Mormon but I was guided by the spirit to not talk on that but to talk on the spirit.  So I had to change everything I had planned and then we watched "the Testaments".  Wow, what a turn out we had!  Over 130 people there. I was amazed that a couple of missionaries could gather so many people. We almost exploded our chapel, we had so many people.  It is so fun to sit in the font and conduct this thing and to see all these faces happy and ready to learn.
 
So now I am teaching a Book of Mormon class every week as well as a mission prep class on top of all the other things we missionaries do so I don't have much more to say about anything.   I am just not feeling up to writing today. Water issue is sucky.   We have been fetching water in the rain, so that we can do what we need to.  It doesn't to any good to complain so I'll grow up and get over it. I have to haul water and pump it by hand just to drink.  Sorry this is kind of lame.  I just don't have much to say.

So these last few days I have been counting my blessings like family and Riss.  I'm not too excited about this transfer.  I will be training a new Elder, Elder Osefu and I am the only American in the apartment again. Hello weight training.

So some Africans were looking my old pics from home and they thought I was not even in the picture. You might not recognize me when I get home.
 
Well that's it for me.  No package yet -  post office is on strike!  I love you.  Have a great week.
 
Love, Elder Kev

Monday, September 5, 2011

MTC Mates Reunited!

Hey family,

As you probably guessed, things are going great still.  The work is pressing forward.  We are focusing a lot now on refilling our teaching pool.  We can't complain too much when it is drained because they are baptized.  One of the things I noticed about myself is that I need to work harder on not getting comfortable with who we are teaching and always find more.  It is good to have the feeling of too many investigators because you cannot have too many, that's the sweet part.  One other thing I have been focusing on is my language, not the language as in English or Krio but my spiritual language. I read a quote a little bit back from President Monson and he said that the universal language of all missionaries is not learned in a textbook or a classroom, it is the spirit.  True conversion comes when you speak His language.  Conversion is not equivalent to knowledge that is for sure.  We are here to help people receive confirmation of what the spirit is telling them.

The coolest thing happened this week.  I am not going to lie, my heart was touched. And I know that sounds funny because I am a big burly manly man but my heart was touched by something that happened.  As I was walking down the road, passed a recent convert's house, I heard something that you do not hear coming from the windows of a house.  I stopped and went back and listened.  I heard a 9 year old little girl, who is not a member but her older sister is, singing "I am a child of God and he has sent me here.  Leads me, guides me, walks beside me, helps me find the way.  Teach me to live with him someday".  That's all she could remember as she was singing.  Man my heart was burning to know that this country can change through the faith of our recent converts and the children turning their hearts to Heavenly Father.  A great work can be done.  I was reading in Alma 34 and 31/32 and it stuck out to me a lot.  I guess in a sense everyday is a day of decision.  We need to decide whether we will continue faithful, remain open to the spiritual promptings and also keep our covenants.  I think we need to decide now whether we will continue to pause on our spiritual plateau or choose instead to fight the inertia and fight to climb higher.   Every thought, every feeling, every action makes us who we are and what we will become. There is nothing that we can do about our past except to repent, and the future does not belong to us yet, we truly only have now.  So I guess I have to ask myself what am I doing now. How am I preparing to meet God? What am I doing to lift others around me?  I know recently I have a lot of things that are helping me to prepare for my own future. There has been a heavy task laid on my own lap. The branch has decided that I can do a lot work. Well, ok that's not true.  I have kind of asked for it in a sense. I am pushing to do lots of things like home teaching and PEC and firesides and baptisms and callings like visiting teaching.  Lots of work for a small soul like me. They are working with me but man, its lots to do. Currently I am planning a fireside as well as trying to get home teaching started but to do that I am pushing the branch to get new a elders quorum presidency.  We just got the relief society all worked out. So we will see how it goes. Teaching is going ok.  Like I said earlier, when you speak the universal language of missionaries (by the spirit) conversion will take place. I notice that when we are strictly obedient to the rules, the Lord showers down the blessings of Heaven on us. And that is why the work is so rapidly progressing. People can see that we are here because we love them not because we want to live this way because, quite frankly, no one wants to live like this.  But they can see that we are willing to sacrifice our time, our money and many other things to help them with their own salvation.  I get the opportunity very often to teach multiple classes at church haha I kind of like it. It tests me to be able to come up with a subject off the cuff and teach for an hour and then immediately after, do it again. Its strenuous but cool! I guess I am growing up.

I decided that I need to introduce another phase into operation get stacked. To my exercise, I added a punching bag for some nice cardio. Plus it is kind of fun. So we will see if I can get rid of these stubborn love handles, and that extra love I am carrying around. If my calculations are correct I should be a fine piece of eye candy when I return home, haha.

I love you guys so much and miss you like crazy but  soon I will be home, less than 9 months wahooo crazy crazy. Transfers are Sunday so we will see what happens.  Hopefully someone that loves to work hard.  Those are the best.  That's why I try to be that guy. Recently I have seen an increase of love because we have been receiving some nice free meals. I can always tell true conversion by the food that they feed us, just kidding.  But man, it's nice to get free food especially since I am poor. Oh and dad how I would love to eat mac and cheese. I remember you saying to get used to eating mac and cheese because that will be dinner for the next two years of your life.  Well, right now, I would love some mac and cheeses!  I also wish I could do the dishes in the sink without toting water from a well and pouring with one hand and scrubbing with the other!  Oh well . . .

Love you guys.  Take care.  I liked this "thee lift me and I'll lift thee and we will ascend together!!"

Love Elder Kev