This is just a general email for more info on what I'm up to! Well this week has gone well. I am now beginning the last week of this transfer. It is crazy to think how fast time goes by. I have been out now about 8 1/2 months!!
My companion, Elder Dye was pretty difficult to get a long with at first, but things are going much better now. I think I can handle another transfer here with him.
The past few days have been pretty challenging. We have had no power at our apartment since Thursday morning at 11. So it has now been about 96 hours without power!! This has been pretty dang though. We had to take our food to the other missionaries so it didn't go bad. We have a gas stove, so we have still been able to cook. The reason for the power being out is our little power meter is broken. So power is prepaid here. You have to buy it and load it onto your meter box. We have power to load on, but it won't let us. The maintenance guy can't come until today. Hopefully we can get it all figured out, because cold showers suck!!
We did get our power back on this morning, so that is great news!
My area is going well. I serve in 2 different places. Evander is a town, which just means it is nicer, and more white people there. The other place I work is Emba, and this is a township. Townships have a lot of shacks, but also a lot if homes. This is where the blacks were forced to live during the apartheid, so it is still only black people. It is really fun to walk through township and see all the weird looks we get as 2 white guys. I really enjoy working in township. It is really fun, and really crazy. There is always a lot going on there, it is just really crazy all the time. Mostly it is fun to mess with the little black kids. There are like funny little things they can't do with there fingers, or hands. It is fun to tell them we are American, because they love to hear that!! I have served in township now all of my mission.
I am really enjoying the work, and teaching some sweet people. One really big problem though is church attendance. One of the standards in my mission is someone has to come to church 5 out of 7 weeks to be baptized. It is really hard for people to come this much if they aren't really committed. There are 2 really cool investigators that I am teaching. They are both living in Emba.
Kalvin is a 14 year old boy. He is a nephew of a recent convert named Fortune. Fortune is only 15. Kalvin has been progressing quick. He was scheduled to be baptized the 15th of June, but he has missed the last 2 Sundays. He is going to have to be rescheduled which is disappointing.
The other promising investigator is named Lindo. She is 18 and living with her grandparents. They are less active members, so hopefully she will have support. She is in 10th grade right now. She was also scheduled to be baptized the 15th of June, but again church attendance is a problem. She will probably be rescheduled for the first of July.
It is still so weird to think I am in Africa. Most things seem very similar. There are still definitely those things I see everyday that remind me I am still in Africa. I have really come to love this place, but it has made me so grateful for where I come from!! I have been so humbled serving here.
Well being a general email I hope whoever is reading this is doing well. I know the gospel is true. My testimony has grown so much. Sometimes it is so frustrating when people don't listen to us as missionaries because I know we have the truth. I guess all I can do is keep trying.
With my Love,
Elder Mitchell Brown
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