Elder Corey Miles - Ethiopia Addis Ababa Mission: WK 23

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