WK 24 - Sons of Thunder

Another week another thousand birr. What's up everyone! This was a pretty slow week considering we were stuck inside for most of it, but thankfully the elections went peacefully and we're back to normal doing the Lord's work.

We're entering rainy season here in Ethiopia and it dumps buckets at a random hour pretty much every day. We've had some really cool thunderstorms too and I've seen some of the most gorgeous lightning I've ever seen, which sounds kind of weird now that I think about it but it's true. 

Highlights of lockdown:

1. I had plenty of time to read the Book of Mormon and Bible in Amharic and my comprehension has gotten so much better. I bought the tiniest pocket bible which looks sick but is even harder to understand because it’s written in old Amharic.

2. I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube again.

3. We had some good lessons over the phone. We met with Robel and got him an Amharic Book of Mormon. We started teaching a new person named Chiang who seems very interested and is way cool. 

4. We ate like Kings and had a taco night. 

The last highlight has to do with my spiritual thought for the week! With the anniversary of Joseph Smith's martyrdom and the lockdown, we were able to learn a lot about church history, and the mission set up some virtual tours for us. The Internet didn't really allow for us to actually watch them, but it got us thinking about it! Joseph Smith sealed his testimony with his blood. On the way to Carthage, Hyrum read a passage from Ether to comfort the company. They would NOT have done that had they fabricated it. Both of them knew exactly what they had experienced and could not deny it. I testify that Joseph Smith was God's prophet to begin this dispensation. He did so much and experienced so much hardship to help man come closer and learn more about God. I'm grateful for the evidence of God's love that the Restoration is true. 

Have a good one y'all 

እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን 

Elder Miles

Mini መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ

Taco night with the Goodwins and the Debre Zeit Elders. 

BOOOOM. Me. I'm the son of thunder.

WK 23 - Locked Down Once More

Picture this: I'm walking down the street, four kilos of onions in hand, separated from my companion, knowing I'm about to be stuck in my apartment for the next ten days thinking "what in the world happened this week." This in fact is a true story. Let me explain:

First off, on Wednesday I was a part of an emergency exchange. One of the native Elders had a major family emergency back home, which happened to be Elder Anbesse's hometown as well, so he went with the other Elder for a few days to attend to that emergency. 

Another thing, there is a very important election going on in Ethiopia this week and a lot is riding on it, and there's a chance some people will be upset. So just to be safe the mission has locked us down in our apartments for the next ten days (it started on Thursday) while mission leadership monitors the situation.

So this is where that all comes into play. Right before the lockdown started and right as we were supposed to stock up on supplies for those ten days, my companion was gone. So me and my new temporary companion, Elder Heiner, had no clue what would be happening to us in the near future. So we went about stuff as normally as possible, then separated into trios on Thursday.

Quick update on people we are teaching: Wendesen was on date but we couldn't get a hold of him for his baptismal interview, so he'll have to wait until after lockdown. Tolossa is interested but he has some questions and concerns that we are working on addressing. Robel seems to be our most progressing person. We had a lesson with him and went over a bunch of stuff, he told us that he was feeling a special peace when he was at the Chapel and when he met with us so we were able to point out to him that it was the Spirit. 

We had a mad dash for groceries Thursday afternoon and we were buying in fat bulk so that's why I was carrying four kilos of onions and that's when the story at the beginning happened. At one point I asked a guy for six kilos of potatoes and got the strangest look. But legit it was like we were preparing for the apocalypse. 

As of now we've been in lockdown for a few days and my companion has returned from down south. It's going pretty well. I've been getting some nice studies in which has been great, but there's not much else we can do. My cooking skills have increased a ton in this short time but my snack stash is already running thin and we've got a week left. Biggest thing though: I feel like I've had a bit of a breakthrough with Amharic so blessings coming through even when we're stuck inside.

During our apartment Sacrament Meeting we discussed President Oaks most recent Priesthood Session talk. In it he talks about four different things that Jesus Christ did for us:

1. Overcame death

2. Performed the Atonement

3. Taught the Plan of Salvation

4. Experienced all of our suffering

Those are some major things if you ask me. We would have had no chance for salvation and God's plan would not have worked without the things Christ did. Sometimes we don't stop to really consider that. So I invite you this week to remember these things, and how they affect you personally! The savior himself invites us to know him personally and individually.

Have a good week everyone! I would love to hear from you this week because it'll give me something to do.

ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ለኛ እንደሞተ እንድታውቁ እፈልጋለሁ

Elder Miles

Elder Heiner and I

The one and only: PEPPA PIG

Last photo of freedom

Goat in da complex

I made fried chicken for the apartment

WK 22 – Devastation

Something devastating happened this week. I finished all of the American snacks I brought. I can't wait for the day that I can eat Dynamita Doritos again. That reunion will be glorious. As I finished the bag that I brought I think a part of my soul left me.

It was a mostly slow week. People just did not want to answer our calls. That's a pretty big problem here in Ethiopia: communication is very inconsistent as well as peoples' schedules so it's hard to lock down lessons.

Something that has made up for that is the push for more member work we've been having here. In the Megenagna Branch where I'm at, there are 900 inactive members. That's a TON. It's pretty much the only reason that it's not a ward yet, and those saints could help strengthen the branch so much, so we've been working to reactivate them. 

One member miracle story: we called a man who was NOT happy to be contacted. He rambled off in Amharic so I wasn't exactly sure why but I caught a few details. Despite that he still wanted to meet with us and explain his situation. So we met with him the next day at his home and he unloaded on us. He's had a rough time the past few years and had a pretty good reason to be angry at the church here. He told us he was never coming back to the church. He didn't want to hear a message from us either, so all I could think to do was get to know him and finish with a prayer. Now fast forward to Sunday, Elder Anbesse and I are sitting outside making some calls and this member walks in the gate! It was honestly so cool to see.

Next member story, we went to Tulu Dimtu again to visit a Sister in the branch. She raises orphans so there were a bunch of kids traveling with us. I got started talking to one of the kids, his name was Nati, and we became homies. He only spoke Amharic, so I spoke as much as I could to him and I think he thought it was funny. On the Taxi to Tulu Dimtu he kept playing with my hair and we made some handshakes. When we got to Tulu Dimtu we hopped into a Bajaj (also known as a tuk-tuk I think. One of those covered tricycle vehicle thingies) and I had an "oh my goodness I'm in Africa moment" which happens every once in a while. There was a quick message shared on unity after a fantastic lunch and then we headed back to Addis. My impression the whole time was just how amazing the members are here despite their circumstances. 

Which kind of brings me to my spiritual thought, real quick because this email is long. I was reading in the New Testament this week and came across Mark 5:19 which says: "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." From that I felt impressed to tell my friends and family that despite the challenges I may face I can honestly say that God has done amazing things for me in my life and even just on my mission and I'm so grateful for the many little blessings in my life. Look for the compassion of God in your own life, I promise that it's there! 

Love you all

እግዚአብሔር በትንሽ ነገሮች በየቀኑ ይባረካናል

Elder Miles

 

I am struggling to remember to take pictures, so enjoy this picture of my breakfast this morning

WK 21 - Puppy for a day

Today marks five months as a missionary for me! That's not exactly a big milestone at all but it just happened to fall exactly on today. The next one will be a party though I promise. 

We had a Mission Conference and transfers this week! Every single missionary in Ethiopia (so like only fifty) gathered at the Megenagna chapel for some fantastic spiritual nurturing from President and Sister Dudfield, some training from the mission leaders, and lunch (which might have been the best part because it's the best food I've had since getting here). I got to see my entire MTC District in person finally because the remaining Elders came in with the new group. 

I'll be staying here in Megenagna with Elder Anbesse for another transfer and I'm totally pumped to be able to hit the work hard in a familiar area. Our apartment changed up quite a bit too so that will help keep things interesting. 

Sister Dudfield shared an awesome thought about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. This is the pattern for living that Christ has given us so that we can experience growth and joy in this life and eventually return to live with him and God again. It's the straight and narrow gate. But it is important to remember that it's a process and a pattern, rather than just a one time thing. No matter where we are in life as we continue to have at least a little faith to push forward, to repent of our shortcomings, partake of the Sacrament, follow promptings of the Spirit, and strive to obey the commandments, we can be confident in our standing before God. That is what we make known as missionaries and it is so important for any member of the church to understand. 

We've been teaching quite a few people so here's a brief summary of the progressors:

- A man named Abraham that we teach over the phone who loves very randomly specific bible verses.

- Wendesen who is on date.

- Robel who is a young engineer and asks a ton of questions and makes our lessons very lengthy.

- and Tolossa who is soft spoken but is very knowledgeable and pretty much helped us teach Robel yesterday.

Now for the subject line. We had a puppy for a day. Her name was Cheese. One of the missionaries in my apartment was walking to the Church the other day and saw a puppy outside of a shop that was getting rocks thrown at it. His motherly instincts kicked in and he scooped it up and took it with him the rest of the way, and I think he was planning on keeping it. Butttttt puppies are definitely not missionary approved and the APs made that very clear when he arrived at the Chapel so the next goal became to return it to the place where he got it. Due to him being busy and no one else wanting to help out, the responsibility fell on me to take it on the thirty minute walk home. So I stuck it in my bag and journeyed forth like a boy and his dog in one of those heartfelt movies. You know what kind of movies I'm talking about. When I got home the Elder cleaned Cheese up and let her go but we enjoyed the time we had together. 

Another week down. Have a great coming week everyone!

እግዚአብሔር ይወዳናል

Elder Miles

🧀

🧀 in a bag

Chowing on some sugar cane. Peep the mosquito bite right in the middle of my forehead

Marshmellow concert in the apartment

The new Megenagna district

Malachi District reunited in the flesh