Man... that transfer went faster than I can explain. It feels like yesterday that I met Elder Chemhuru and now he is off to be a big bad Zone Leader. He was our district leader and he always talked about how he doesn't like being a leader because He hates when people look to his example... well, He has the best example of any missionary I have met while I have been out so I know exactly why they trust him to be a zone leader. He has taught me so much, I will miss him a lot but I am sure I will see him in the future!
I am staying in the same area and I am receiving Elder Mthony.. a Kenyan who is apparently pretty sick! I will meet him tomorrow! I am a little nervous though because I will be leading the Area and we have had so many people to teach that Elder Chemhuru and I haven't even visited half of our area! So I have no clue where the boundaries are but I guess I'll just be winging it and let the Spirit lead the Way!
Half of the guys from our apartment are leaving so it will be Elder Lehr, Koopmans and myself staying. Elder Koopmans is my favorite. He reminds me of some of my buds back home! We sit and crack jokes in our weird voices all night so I am really glad he is staying. Also, He has been helping me with Krio. I am doing better at understanding but man, sometimes I have no clue what they are saying! There are weird things that they say that mess me up like "What Ting u For Get" which means, what thing do you need to do.. but to me it sounds like what should you forget about! haha! Or when they understand they say " I done understand" but to me that sounds Like I don't understand.. hahaha! so sometimes i'll keep explaining and my companion has to give me a nudge haha! But I'm getting better. I found the best way is to talk to the kids, because they don't care how bad your Krio grammar is... which in reality.. Krio is just bad English grammar... so who knows? haha I wish I could have a tally of how many times they've called me white man... it would be over 10,000 by now haha!
So we aren't suppose to freak you out, but Ebola has broken out in Guinea and has killed quite a few people over there. Mom... its fine... don't worry. We are taking precautions in case it is spreads to salone. I think we'll be fine but we aren't allowed to eat anything that we don't cook ourselves.. so bye bye to FM's (free meals) I am starting to love the food and just in time for them to tell us we can't eat it haha! All i eat now is corn flakes.. and a load of sugar... I WILL get fat... so much for all that time I spent working out haha! but like I said.. don't freak out.. yes ebola is a crazy freaky disease... but we are safe. We are in the Lord's hands.
Ok so now time for the good stuff. President Ostler gave me permission to read "Believing Christ" it is the sweetest book I have ever read. It helps you learn how what and how to use the Atonement. It talks about how we Belive in Christ.... but we Don't BELIEVE CHRIST. what this means is that sometime we don't have real faith in christ. The promises that Christ gives us are real. If we follow his gospel and endure to the end We WILL go to the Celestial Kingdom. For some reason, in the past I have wanted to compare the good things I have done in my life to the Bad things I have done in my life. In my mind I thought that if I have done more bad than good then I won't be able to go to the Celestial Kingdom. Well, I was completely off. Our past doesn't matter. If we put our faith in christ then He will make up the difference we need to reach Heaven. I wanted to save myself.. but it is impossible. That is why our relationship with Jesus christ is soooo crucial... without him we are nothing... with him we are EVERYTHING!!! "If we don't follow Christ by choice then we follow Satan by default" quote from the book. This means that even though we might not be bad people... if we aren't following christ... then we are following the world.. and Satan is in control of worldly things. We ALL need Christ to become perfected... we won't become perfect in this life and even if did become perfect on our own we still have sins from our past and someone must pay the penalty for each individual sin. Christ has offered and already payed the price for us... so why would we not seek his help. I am not very good at explaining what I learned... but let me tell ya... it was soooo clear in my mind when I finally understood what Believing Christ means. I want to invite anyone and everyone to read this book. We can all benefit from it. For me.... it changed my whole perspective and gave me hope. I can promise you that if you read it, you will have a spiritual experience if you are willing to act on your impressions! Jen... This book is seriously perfect for you. The whole time I read it I was just thinking about you. Please give it a shot. I love you sooo much and I know your relationship with God and Jesus Christ will grow if you read it. I have been soooo happy this past week and I know it is because I have found/understood the Grace of God. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I will never be able to thank him enough for his guidance and suffering he has done for me. All he asks is that we try our best. So, that is what I have been doing... trying my best.
I have a baptism this Saturday with one of my sweetest investigators. His name is Ibrahim! he is 17 and He is such a stud. He is one of the happiest people I have met. I just realized.... the people who are really happy here are the people who are ready to be baptized and have repented of their sins... coincidence? I think not! haha! The Atonement is real and it Will make you happy if your USE it!
"This life is a short test. With Jesus whispering the answers to us... we can Ace it every time."
-Elder Crandall
Wowsers.. that was a money quote and It just popped into my head.. haha!
I love you all so much! thank you for all the prayers!
Shout out to my main man Milo!! I miss you like crazy! The babies here are cute but not even close to as cute as you! I wish I could hold ya and give you a big hug bud. Keep given your mom and dad a wild time.
Love,
Elder Crandall the Vandal
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