Not much today, we went to Milami City -a shopping mall- which was supposed to be a zone activity, but barely anyone showed up. I can't say I blame them, it's the last week of the Transfer, so they're all stocking up on souvenirs. E.Phokane and I were just there for the KFC. It was nice.
4/30
"Truly a Dangerous Foe"
There are three kinds of mosquitos here: The Big ones, the Fast ones, and the Ninjas.
The Big ones are simple enough, they're just big. I kill a lot of these kind. They're the easiest target, and the easiest to spot.
The Fast ones are fairly dangerous. They fly fast enough to disappear from your sight while you're watching them because your brain can't keep up with them.
The Ninjas are the scariest. The have the ability to bite you without you ever seeing them. If you spot one, either it'll bite you in a few minutes no matter how hard you watch, or it's already bitten you. Usually the second one - they get slower and sloppier after eating.
These things are tough as bricks no matter which one you look at, and they will bite you through your socks. Most of my mosquito bites are on my ankles. Only a few on my arms. A ninja did bite me on the pad of my pinky once -I'm still trying to figure out how it happened- it was horrible. I have learned that the most miserable place to get bitten, is a place with a lot of nerves. Your sense of touch gets messed up, and it's the most painful. I had one bite me through my net before too, it was when I first got here, and I slept without a blanket. My feet pressed up against the net, and I woke up with two throbbing and itchy toes. They're evil.
My Companion is a Hunter though, Bloodborne style. His accuracy when hunting Mosquitoes is at LEAST 90% I wouldn't be surprised if it was 98% or so. He is also the only one who can spot Ninjas, and he can find the fast ones after they've disappeared. The big ones avoid him knowing all hope is lost. I need to learn his ways, my accuracy is 30% on a good day, often less...usually less...okay, it's less. Probably about 6% or 7%.
Today was interesting, we performed an emergency exchange with Chang'ombe 1 so that E.Buthelezi could get some work done. It went well, and we swapped back without any issue.
We also did some contacting today, and we met S.Veronica's uncle, and we contacted him. It'll be interesting to see if that goes anywhere.
Oh yeah, I am a little proud of myself because I mended one of my shirts. I'd caught my shirt pocket while standing up, and torn it a week ago. I forgot all about that happening until I placed my shirt on the ironing board today, and noticed that the pocket wasn't sewed on anymore. Half an hour of head scratching and fiddling around later I was able to get it sewn back on. I got a thumbs up from my companion for it. It'll hopefully hold up for a little while. I don't want to have to pay someone to fix it.
5/2
Exchanges yesterday with E.Bailey. It was nice, but nothing happened of note. It was just quiet. Too quiet, I had to turn on music.
Today was pretty exciting though. We have one new investigator, and I taught another person for the first time. Yesterday, a member brought his friend as a referral; E.Phokane and E.Buthelezi taught him, so he was a new investigator yesterday. E.Phokane and I taught him today, so it was my first time teaching him. His name is Brother Ernest. He's nice, and considering who referred him, the likelihood that he'll get baptized is rather high. I probably won't be the one to do it though, the Transfer ends this week, and I have no idea if I'm going or staying.
Anyway, the circumstances surrounding the new investigator for today were rather funny/interesting. About a week ago E.Phokane and E.Bailey (it was exchanges) were stopped by a lady named Brenda, so they contacted her. E.Phokane and I went back later to teach her, she wasn't there, but her sister was, so we contacted her. Today, we taught them both at the same time. The sister's name is Blessing, and I think she's funny. She knows English better than Swahili, and when I asked her which pamphlet she'd like I got the response: "English please!" with a large amount of desperation. I still find it rather funny to think back on. These sisters also had a lot of questions, which was nice. People usually just listen and nod, even when they don't understand. That just makes our job harder, but these sisters just asked a lot of questions. It was nice.
Nothing else, but the end of the transfer brings a sense of impending doom and joy. It lets me know that, yes time is moving; but on the other hand, I think I'll be moved, which I don't want since I want to be around for S.Veronica's Baptism, and to help teach S.Mary and her husband B.Brighton, but I'll go where I'm told regardless.
5/3
Correlation meeting today, that took up a lot of time. Correlation is when you meet with the ward mission leader and catch him up on the people you've been seeing and teaching, and you let him know how the ward/branch can help with missionary work. Today's was extremely long since we haven't held this (weekly) meeting in three-four weeks.
After we got back we checked in on S.Veronica who is still recovering, but she feels well enough to open her shop. We also met our Recent Convert: B.Kevin there. Fun fact: his real name isn't Kevin, but I can't for the life of me write it, and I've only successfully said it out loud once (twice since I just tried again, and no one is around to correct me). We taught him about the priesthood, and said hello to a member named B.Luis, who is B.Kevin's fellow-shipper.
Overall, it was a nice day, except for the fact that the power was off when we got up in the morning. I was a little annoyed that I couldn't iron my shirt, but I wasn't desperate enough to put the iron on the stove. I know some missionaries have had success with that one, but it just reeks of danger to me; danger, and a broken iron.
5/4
Really quiet today. No one showed up to English class. They probably assumed that it had been cancelled since there's a District Conference today and tomorrow (it's like Stake Conference).
Anyway, I ended up ordering Pizza today. I will admit that I feel torn. On the one hand: it's pizza, I haven't had pizza in 6 weeks - since last transfer. On the other hand: the pizza here just isn't right. The crust is really thin, they skimp on cheese, and the pepperoni is super thin. I suppose you could say that I feel like I've taken a Potion when I need to take an Elixir. (KH reference. Potions restore health, Elixirs restore health and magic, they're better.) I also learned my lesson from last time. I ordered the biggest size they had, and finished most of it. It was about the same size as the large pizza back home.
Aside from that, I cut my hair, and bought mango juice. I gotta admit two things. 1: I'm feeling fresh, I've needed a hair cut for a few weeks now. 2: Mango is starting to grow on me. I can see why Drake likes it.
We're just waiting for transfer news. Probably won't be till after midnight, I won't be getting much sleep.
Just got news (it's 11). E.Phokane and E.Buthelezi are going to Buruburu (in Kenya). My new companion's name is E.Mathemera (Matt-e-meh-rah). It's interesting to see how excited my companion is. His mind is absolutely blown. He was expecting to be here for another Transfer. It was kinda funny though, I had a heart attack when President Msane called us, but it turned out to be a mistake, he was calling the other Elders. E.Bailey is now a District Leader. E.Buthelezi will be working with E.Duke, who came in with my group.
5/5
It was a good, last day today. We attended Distric Conference, and got to hear President Msane speak, and his wife Sister Msane. She was really funny, because she said that she wasn't dead yet. On mission, being dead means that you've lost all motivation for the work. You often see it with people who are going home soon. One of the Elders in my Zone was dead, you could see it on his face. He still worked and all, but he had no fire. Anyway, S.Msane got a lot of laughs from Missionaries when she said that.
It was nice, but it rained ALL DAY today! I'm not joking! It started last night, and only stopped a few hours ago. Utah rain can't hold a candle to the stuff here. It's like the ocean decided to jump on your face, driving down the road, is more like fording accross a series of lakes all filling pot holes. Wanna know how deep some of them get? If I wanted, I could have touched the water as we passed through one of the puddles in a Daladala today. They are deep!
After the District Conference, we went to a member's home and ate dinner with him. It was nice. He's a returned missionary, and he served in this mission: B.Phineas. He's powerful too, you can tell just by looking at him, spending time with him? You can feel it too. He's helping E.Phokane and I (now E.Mathemera and I) teach B.Brighton and S.Mary.
5/6
We didn't get to email home today. Some important buisness man died, and everyone closed their shops out of grief. We tried 3 different shops to email, all three were closed. So we'll email tomorrow.
Nothing happened today. We dropped E.Phokane and E.Buthelezi off at the airport, then E.Bailey, E.Tonda, and I hung around E.Bailey's flat till lunch. That was when the first sign of things to come was seen: the restraunt was closed. It's never closed, never. Almost gave me a heart-attack. We had to improvise for lunch, and then we went looking for a place to email. I called the guy we normally go to, he said that he wasn't around today. We took a Daladala all the way out to Buza to try one there, nothing. That was when we found out the reason. Spent the rest of the day doing nothing, we just contacted (well, E.Tonda contacted, my Swahili will never be that good) just one person. It's gonna be a long week.
Oh, this one shopkeeper ma-ma was shockingly nice to me while we were out. She called us over and lent me an umbrella since all three of us couldn't fit under one. I gave it back, and as thanks I didn't ask for my change (yes, on purpose) when we bought soda from her later.
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