WK 79 - Ethiopia Dreamin'

By the እናቶች and the አባቶች

I've always heard that people receive revelation in many different ways, especially in the way best suited for them. For a lot of the people we come in contact with, they seem to receive revelation mainly through the dreams they have. So, considering the amount of dreams we had to interpret this week, I'll discuss aspects of the week through the dreams people had. Just call me Joseph (no not Nelson, the one in Egypt).  

First off, we've been working closely with our recent converts. Tekaw took a trip to the city of Dire Dawa so we weren't able to meet with him this week. That gave us more time to meet with Tesfay and it was great! He is progressing really well and loves being a member. During a lesson this week, he told us about a dream he had after his baptism. He said that his Aunt (who took care of him growing up) came to him. She died a while ago, but she stood there, said nothing, and looked at him approvingly. Because of that, he said he knew that the decision he had made was correct. 

We were able to teach some long-time friends as well as find some new ones. On Thursday, we took the public transportation out to Jemo to visit a few members and investigators, and we met with Mamencha. We have taught Mamencha a little bit before and this time we decided to share a bit about the pre-mortal life and our life on earth. It was a bit of a difficult lesson at first because we were outside in the cold, the cars were loud, and the idea just wasn't clicking. We had a member there who helped us explain things thankfully. At the end, after we bore our testimonies, Mamencha asked if he could bear his.

After church and after reading the Book of Mormon, he told us he had a dream that he saw two foreigners standing on a mountain top. This man doesn't speak English, but he said that these foreigners were speaking English and that he could understand that they were teaching the true Gospel. He told us that because of that dream, he knew that our message was true. Now, we are going to make sure that he still progresses by reading, praying, and coming to church, but that was a cool experience. Even the member was shocked haha. 

Then there were some less profound dreams. We've been finding less-active members to work with, and one that we've been working with for a while now is super cool, speaks good English, and is a return missionary. She has some family issues though and that's why she doesn't come. But this week when we called her, she told us she had a dream where me and my comp were fighting and because of that I came to her crying. The weird part is that we have literally never met in person so I don't know how she could have a dream with me in it but I guess that's the way it goes. 

We had District Conference on Sunday, so we got to go to Megenagna with all the Addis members and missionaries. It was a good time. Sadly, the conference was in Debre Zeit and our Zoom broadcast had a terrible connection, so they leaders where we were cut the broadcast and gave their own conference. 

Thursday Elder Ayre went to Arat Kilo to cancel his papers because him and his group leave in one week. Crazy stuff. The group that's leaving is super experienced and good friends, so they will be missed for sure. 

This week I was reminded of the parable of the current bush. Sometimes, the gardener cuts us down and we wonder why, but then the gardener says, "someday when you are healthy and laden with fruit, you will thank me for loving you enough to cut you down." I love how this applies to us as God's children. God gives us challenges to prepare us for a future full of blessings we can't imagine.

Ahoy Mateys

Love you guys!

Elder Miles

እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን

Playing chair Jenga in the primary room

Enjoying District Conference with Tesfay

WK 78 - A light on the horizon

This was an interesting week. There was a nice mixture of good and bad, happy and sad, peace and anxiety. That's mission life for you though. In fact, I guess that's just life. I'm so grateful for how I've learned to rely on the Lord to help me grow and appreciate it all. Truly, challenges are for our refining. 

We had a small 4th of July party and ate burgers, fries, and no-bake cookies. Happy Birthday America. Earlier in the day we went to a Lion Park in Sidist Kilo and got lunch in Arat Kilo. The highlights were the monkeys doing silly things indeed and also bought shirits which are traditional wraps. 

Another big event of the week, I officially hit my 18 month mark! The light is now on the horizon and I don't know how I feel about it. One thing is for sure, I still feel like there's work to be done, so prepare to hear the best stories coming up... 

We did service this week at the Degnet after-school center. We got to go and teach 55 children English. It was such a blast that we enjoyed very much. 

We went on two sets of exchanges this week. The first one, I returned once more to be with my Father, Abba, and የንስሃ አባቴ Elder Anbesse. We worked in his area and caught up. We taught some good lessons. One guy was super meek but loved the lesson, another believes everything but the doctrine of baptism. Good stuff. 

Next exchange was with Elder Bringhurst, my MTC brother. That day was a Muslim holiday and it sprinkled the whole time. All of our lessons cancelled even before one o'clock, so to stay productive we split up the work and called through the entire member list. 

We met and taught some cool people this week. We were having a slow day when a random dude came out of nowhere named Fitsum. Turns out he had met with missionaries before. We sat down and taught him. He really just wants to know the truth so has been studying the Book of Mormon. We taught a young lady named Shewit who lives far away but came to church and we invited her to learn more about the Restoration. She spoke really good English and we had a good discussion. Lastly, we taught a young man named Bonke after church who told us if the church was closer to his home he would come every day, so for now we'll settle with once a week. 

Our friend Tesfaye who has been struggling lately got baptized this week! Prayers were answered and we were able to work with President to determine that he was ready. He's so genuine and seeking the truth. He's also had some job opportunities so things are looking up for him! We love him and have been amazed with his progress. 

I forgot my scriptures one day, so for a personal study I was reading through a church magazine and found some good stuff. One of my favorites talked about a girl who struggled to feel God's love. She came to the realization that she felt it was all or nothing. Because she didn't feel God's love, she thought he didn't exist. But someone helped her realize that it's never that way. God loves us and is perfectly empathetic, even when we can't feel it or don't believe it's truly there. I promise that it's there.

 

Elder Miles

እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን

M O N K E

4th of July feast

Sittin in a tube while it rains

Classic work position

A bat we found at church

Tesfaye's baptism

My shirit

WK 77 - You've got a friend in me

This week was awesome because we got to finish it out strong with the baptism and confirmation of Tekaw. He's such a solid dude and probably the closest friend I've ever had in an investigator. We are really trying to help him make friends with the members. In his testimony, he shared how he has looked for truth and after praying, he received an answer in less than two weeks. He talked about how he wants to serve in the church for the rest of his life and he definitely has the potential to do some good.

Funny story though, we were cleaning out the font, and in order to drain it we needed to put some rocks underneath it because it's just a big metal box and that tilts the water out. Well, we left the rocks underneath and a water truck filled the font up with a tilting rock underneath. We came the next morning to an uneven baptismal font and since it weighed a thousand pounds, we couldn't pull the rock out.

We had MLC this week. It was super enlightening and the whole time it made me want to be a better, more focused missionary. Elder Ayre and I gave a training on five minute lessons on the street. We also learned about the importance of Preach My Gospel and being accountable. Preach My Gospel isn't just for missionaries, but for members too! How many of you have read Preach My Gospel? It's good stuff. 

We visited a member this week and had a bit of a scare because a police officer came in after us wondering what we were doing. We were able to meet with our friend Mamencha who lives in the same place and teach him about the Book of Mormon. We also had a miracle and met a man named Bonke who came to church yesterday. We taught a guy named fitsum who is really odd and can't read.

Coolest teaching opportunity was when we taught a young man named Jonah. We invited a member to help us teach and the spirit was there as we shared about what happens after we die and our unique beliefs. He is a strong Protestant, but he shared afterwards how much he loves our doctrine because we focus on Jesus Christ. Maybe we can help him to love it even more...

A cool quote I heard that I will paraphrase: "repentance is not the backup plan, it is the plan of happiness." Sometimes we feel like if we were better, we wouldn't need to repent. That if we need to repent, we are following the backup plan or have fallen to the lower track. But repentance is a part of the plan to give us happiness. We NEED to repent in order to experience that joy.

Shout out to Elder Larson for giving me a shout out and also responding to my weekly who knows how many weeks in a row.

Have a good week everyone!

Elder Miles

እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን

Post-MLC action

Pondering deeply

Tekaw!!

Lunch with our boi

WK 76 - WELCOME TO FLAVORTOWN

Sometimes I feel like my letters are more of a food blog than missionary emails because I talk about what I eat so much, but this week was a good food week so I'm not ashamed to share some more.

This week we held a Zone Council meeting so we could gather all the missionaries and set a vision for the zone. We talked about being one percent better in all we do and had the District Leaders talk about different aspects of missionary work and how we can do them just a bit better.

We went on exchanges to Arat Kilo this week along with the APs. It is a recently reopened area, so the missionaries there are grinding to figure things out. I ended up with Elder Williams who was in my MTC group, and because they got a brand new area book, we spent the whole day talking to people trying to fill it up! It was so fun being out on the streets in a new area and we talked to some cool people. One of them even ended up coming to church!

Now here's where the food comes in. While we were there, we ordered a plate of eighteen Irtib, which is like fried potato sandwiches. It was so good. I'll attach a picture below. It filled the whole silver platter there was so much. Later that night, for Elder Wallace and Elder Ferrin's one year mark, we celebrated by taking them to the Greek restaurant. I went big and ordered the President Dudfield recommended Greek Roasted Lamb. We flexed a little bit to him. 

Ok enough about food. Our investigators are progressing well. It's been rainy this week so it's been a bit slow. Tekaw brought his friend Esias this week and both are so funny and love coming to meet with us. Tekaw will hopefully get baptized next Sunday. We've had some complications with Tesfaye, so we aren't sure what to do there. We met with a friend named Jonah this week who disagreed with us on the Fall, but really wants to read the Book of Mormon. We met with a Muslim who converted to Christianity and had a good discussion about the Trinity with him.

This Sunday the Branch held a “Come and See” activity where after church, Branch President Rangi provided refreshments and drinks that the members enjoyed after church, then we started a fireside where members shared their conversion stories! Us missionaries gave a musical number and I even conducted half the meeting in Amharic! It was fun and I feel like the branch needs more activities like that.

We were able to attend the baptism of a disfellowshipped member this week, and that was powerful! The whole time I couldn't help but think about the Savior's willingness to forgive if we are humble and we take the necessary steps to repent. Sometimes we get caught up thinking we aren't in the right spot to receive help or feel the Savior's love. But when we are sincerely trying to repent, we are always able to feel confidence, love, and help.

See you next time on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

Guy Fieri

And 

Elder Miles

እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን

Zone Council lunch

Tekaw and Esias

Irtib Platter

Flexing on President

Willie and I

Karl Marx looking scary

WK 75 - Shirogate Scandal

This week was a crazy one. During the second half of it we didn't have a free moment because there was so much to take care of. Part of that had to do with the fact that mission conference was on Wednesday! The remainder of the missionaries stranded in Kenya finally made it back to Ethiopia! We had a huge meeting and it was so fun to have everyone back. I couldn't help but smile the whole time.

So, now we have a bunch of new missionaries! Our zone went from six missionaries to fifteen, so a lot of business came from getting organized and helping everyone out.

We put Tekaw on date this week for July 3rd! That guy is prepared. I've never had an investigator be such a friend and so genuinely engaged in the Gospel. We always have a good time with him. Tesfaye is still doing well and found a job, but has two weeks until he starts. Those two weeks will be hard from him. So, we shared some scriptures about deliverance and faith knowing God will help him. Keep him in your prayers. Finding was hard this week, but we got some good referrals that we are excited to teach this coming week.

The Sisters had a baptism and we were able to enjoy the experience of that. I was able to participate in the confirmation and that is always a special treat. That, along with the sacrament, got me thinking about ordinances, and how D&C teaches that godliness is manifest in the ordinances. The ordinances bring us closer to God and are powerful reminders of our covenants as well as awesome spiritual experiences. 

One of the Sisters from my MTC group goes home this week. I'm starting to feel old. 

Oh yeah and we were caught in the middle of a scandal this week. Long story short, a man took advantage of our free English classes and started passing out his own flyers for it, advertising that we would give people jobs and scholarships when we definitely are not, and then he would make money off of it. Not so good.

I hope your week this week goes better than that! 

Happy Father's Day too!

እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን

Elder Miles

Taught this random guy for the other Elders. He was cool.

Tekaw

Beklobet Zone after church

EAAM reunited

WK 74 - PEANUTS in my COKE!?!

This week we had another round of exchanges with the brand new missionaries to Ethiopia and I was with Elder Underwood from Oklahoma. We taught a pastor and another one of our friends that day so that was good. But then he made me try a snack that him and his dad used to eat which was peanuts in coke. You just kind of munch on them as you drink. Honestly, not bad. 

Last P-Day we went to the Oromo Cultural center with my friend Dula! Dula is a recent convert that Elder Anbesse and I worked with back in August. He's making leaps and bounds of progress but this week he invited us to spend the day with him. He is Oromo so going to a museum with him about his culture was sweet. 

This week we headed off to headquarters for interviews. I always love going back to Megenagna because when we're there it's always full of people to talk to. 

We taught a young man named Jonah this week who speaks really good English. He met with missionaries before but was confused about the story of Joseph Smith, so we helped him to understand better. When he understood, the spirit touched him and he wanted to learn more.

Church was awesome this Sunday! Attendance was low sadly, but President Dudfield was there along with some other visitors. We had four friends come, and two of the members we invited showed up! During the Elders Quorum lesson, I bumped our friend Tekaw's elbow and told him to raise his hand to answer a question. He said, "No, I'm new" and then a few minutes later said, "Fine, I'll raise my hand after I am baptized." That was the green light for us. That man is prepared.

I read a cool definition of the Spirit of Elijah this week. It is "a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family." I love that! As we do fun things as a family, as we love and serve each other, as we learn the Gospel together, and as we do family history work, those feelings coming testifying that the family unit is truly divine and appointed by God.

ቻው ቻው የኔ ትንሽ ድንቾች

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Miles

Staring off into the distance in a thunderstorm...

Elder Underwood

Dula and the Oromo Cultural Center

This pot is called a Corey

The guy who translated the Bible into Afan Oromo

WK 72+73 - Two Week Blur

It does not feel like two weeks have passed by and that's just not fair. It was a massive blur because we were really busy, so I'll try and string together a jumbled series of events. 

- We visited two members out in a place called Jemo. It's far away so we got so see a lot of the city by Ethiopian taxis. One member sounded like he was dying when we called him the night before, so we recruited another member and went to give him a blessing. Later in the week, when he was feeling better, the member invited us to lunch with him and we got to pound some whole fried fish. 

- We went on exchanges with the APs the week before. I got to be with Elder Nelson for the day. 

- Last Sunday we visited a member who invited us over in a place called Ayer Tena. It was pretty much just as far as Jemo. For one he fed us "irgo" which is Ethiopian yogurt, but basically, it's just spoiled milk with chili powder in it. Not my favorite. It tasted like lava going down my throat. We were super gracious though, because I've been a in a lot of humble homes in my day, and this one might have been the most humble. We shared a message about covenants and he expressed some of his concerns with us. We hope we were able to bless him in some way. 

- We've gotten English Connect classes started in the branch but it's been kind of chaotic. They were supposed to begin this week, but there was a bit of a mix up and a counselor announced that it was starting last week. So, we taught an impromptu lesson. It went fairly well though. I'm definitely not qualified to be an English teacher, but it's been cool to see a combination of members, investigators, and friends come. 

- We've received a bunch of new missionaries recently! It's strange having people who weren't in Kenya but it's nice to have some new faces. Going along with that, Elder Detjen is here! For those who don't know Elder Detjen, he went to Lone Peak with me and we played basketball together! I got to go hang out with him on a pday and even go on an exchange with him! It was sweet. I've got some pictures. 

- Our three most progressing people are Tesfaye, Tekaw, and Alemu. Tesfaye is almost ready for baptism but we just want to make sure. Tekaw was an online referral but is so solid. The first day we met him he was so shocked that we could teach in Amharic! He tried to hand us a translator app haha but we just set it aside and went for it. He's been loving the pamphlets and the Book of Mormon. He's the definition of a homie. 

I just reread President Nelson's most recent talk last night and what stood out to me was the way he talked about seeking peace. As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be lights and examples to the world. We all want peace. But how can we expect peace if we don't seek peace at a personal level? We must be the ones to act and seek peace in the conflicts in our life. It doesn't matter what the person on the other side of the conflict is doing. We have to be the one to take steps if we are truly seeking peace. 

ተባረኩ!!! Be blessed everyone! I hope you have a good week. 

Elder Miles

Cleaning the Chapel and it was absolutely filthy. 

President Efrem, the District President, and his family! 

Exchanges with Elder Ross and Elder Detjen!

Hmm tastes like fish.

Elder Ayre and I found a super nice, new library. 

Hanging out with Elder Detjen on pday. 

Ayer Tena. 

Eatin' yogurt.