Elder Corey Miles - Ethiopia Addis Ababa Mission: WK 49

Oh, my goodness guys we had a run in with a zombie elephant this week and eight people freaking died and then we had to rearrange the whole mission because of it. Just in time for Christmas too gosh darn it.

Oh, wait the zombie elephant and the dying Elders had no correlation (I think). I should probably make that clear.

Also, they didn't die die per say, they’re just missionary that died as in they went home and I'm not happy about it. Two of them were Elders Heiner and Jensen, our Summit homies. We had a big farewell devotional and wow I was legitimately sad. They served valiantly and were awesome examples to me.

Because we had so many people leave, the mission structure received a huge makeover in the form of transfers. And let me just say I've never been a prouder father. My little Summit area has become a ZONE! I'm still the district leader and my companion is still Elder Kearl. We now have our very own pair of zone leaders, another companionship, and the Tulu Dimtu District.

Now on to the zombie elephant. For the finale of our cool African p-day activities we went to a baby elephant orphanage. One of them had some medicine on it that made it look like zombie. It was way cool seeing the tiny versions of those animals. We were able to touch them as they came around and watch them get fed. We also nearly got assaulted by baboons just before.

I really wish I had more to say about the people we are teaching. We do our best to work with the ones we've got, but mostly we just find people way outside of our areas and share short, uplifting messages with them. If that's how it has to be then I'm ok with that. We can uplift everyone we come across in some way.

Because I'm lacking in that department, I want to spend some more time on my spiritual thought. That way this email is a bit more worthwhile. Christmas is this week! As we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, I have been thinking about what his birth means to me. It means we can overcome sin, weakness, physical challenges, pain, sadness, you name it! It means we can live as families forever and experience joy in this life. It means that there is a God who loves us enough to give us his son and a plan to make it all happen. It brought a light that changed this world forever. My Christmas challenge for you is to spread that light. Please, I can't emphasize enough how much sharing the Savior's love can change lives.

ወደፊት መልካም ገና!!!

Elder Miles