5/27
Nothing much happened today. We tried to go to Choir practice, but weren't able to arrive till right as it finished. We spent half an hour trying to catch a Daladala to Kinondoni -where choir practice was held- and in that time, only two going there passed by: the first was so packed that we laughed at it. The second one is the one we took. The unfortunate reality, was that the second one was ARRIVING as the place we wanted to go, not taking the shortest route to it. The second longest route possible -as near as I can tell- was the one that was taken.
We were still able to arrive in time to greet the other missionaries. I chatted for a little while with Elder Redpath. I like him quite a bit, he's from the UK, and is overall a fun and interesting guy. I probably won't end up as a companion with him, he's white. It does happen, but only rarely. The mysterious and interesting increase in prices might have something to do with that.
Anyway, another Daladala ride back to the flat, and I spent some time reading Jesus the Christ. So close to done now. I'm on the Chapter that talks about the Savior's ministry to the spirits in the spirit world. I'm also noticing that that chapter needs some revisions. Some details that are shared are not in harmony with later revelation received in Doctrine and Covenants 138. Still good.
We went and cybered after that. Had to use the most in human and uncomfortable chair on earth while doing so, but I survived. I'm just a little bitter because I've sat on more comfortable concrete.
Some shopping after that, some minor cleaning, eating way too much food even though I wasn't hungry. Just a standard P-Day.
5/29
You may have noticed a missing day. I tried to finish Jesus the Christ before bed, and missed the mark by a chapter and a half. The fact that not much happened yesterday adds to my lack of urgency in updating it.
"What did happen yesterday?"
We taught a lesson at 9:30 in the morning with B.Brown, then headed over to Kinondoni for interviews. At Kinondoni it was mostly waiting and chatting with the other Elders. I've come to the conclusion that I like all the white Elders in my Zone. Not even intentional racism, we just bond over the mutual pain of being white in Tanzania. The fact that they're all funny helps. The list is as follows: E.Bailey, E.Redpath, E.Puddicombe, and E.Ackley. I'll also chuck E.Robinson on the list, mainly because I like the guy. We just chatted all day yesterday. We were also back after home safe because the public transport is impossible in the evening.
As far as today, we weren't able to catch a Daladala so we took a Bajaj. We had Zone Conference, tons of fun. I almost fell asleep in the morning, and President joked that he'd have to tell me that my mouth is closed again. ("You're talking too much, the others need to contribute") We had KFC for lunch, very nice. Ice Cream? YES PLEASE. Cake? Meh, I still ate it. Wasn't missing out on anything. Still not a cake guy.
Chatted with E.Ackley and E.Redpath during lunch and had a lot of fun, then back to the meeting. It ended eventually. We got back after home safe again. Kinondoni Daladalas are the most inhumane thing I've ever seen. We even caught one that took a route, to the place that we wanted to go, that I can only call "drunken." Despite that, I think we still beat some Sisters home. Crazy, huh? Fun, right? I'm dead tired. Oyasuminasai.
5/31
"Why didn't you update last night?"
"I have bigger priorities when I'm dying, and the power is out."
"Okay, first: why were you dying? Second: the power was out again?"
"I'll answer the second one first. Yes, the power was out again. It was out today too, it just came back on right as we got back to the flat."
"That's a nice piece of luck, so why were you dying?"
"I discovered that my body can't handle Ugali."
"Can't handle in what wa-"
"Don't ask."
Anyway, we taught B.Ernest yesterday. It was a really good lesson. He has accepted Baptism. Excuse me for a moment while I go do a happy dance in the corner.
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Okay, I'm back. Aside from that, yesterday was pretty slow. We held English Class, talked with B.Okanda, ate Ugali for lunch and immediately regretted it. Stuff like that.
The power went out in the evening, and didn't come back on till just before one in the morning. I hadn't really been able to sleep before it came back on. I was just dozing, and dying from a combination of heat stroke, and Ugali side effects. It came back on, I shut the windows, turned on the A/C and went to bed properly.
We did weekly planning today, so most of it was shot, but we did end up teaching B.Kevin and S.Veronica. They both gave me reasons to be proud of them during the lesson while we were talking.
B.Kevin finally landed a highly competitive job at an airline as a Flight Traffic Officer. It's one step closer to his dream of being a Pilot. He also shared the Book of Mormon with his Uncle. I jokingly offered him my name tag after I heard that.
S.Veronica shared her testimony with a Pastor when her sister hauled her to her church. It was a good story, and I felt proud of her too.
I take literally no credit for raising these two right. All credit to our Father in Heaven who has given this two extremely powerful testimonies. We shared Matthew 25 with them, then left. It was a really good lesson with them.
6/1
Whoohooo! New month! Plastic Bags are now illegal in Tanzania! Fun! FUn! FUN! FUN!!!
Okay, all sarcasm aside, today was pretty good. We got to teach B.Ernest: Usafi wa Kimwhili; The Law of Chastity. It was a pretty quick and easy lesson.
I also taught English Class today, and had two of my students show up, so that was nice. Two is the max I get on any regular basis.
We had to skip lunch because we spent so long teaching between English Class and the lesson with B.Ernest.
After that, shopping. Since last month is over and I have money left over, I "balled" while grocery shopping. I got a new Razor and some Boneless Chicken Breasts. Both of those things are stuff that are usually way out of my regular budget.
This evening I -with my companion's help- created a pretty good dinner using the chicken and some instant noodles. My companion helped me with creating the marinade for my chicken, then I cooked them by frying them up, cooked some instant noodles, dumped them in the pan with the chicken and fried them all together. Created a fake Yakisoba. It was really nice. I'll have to make it again tomorrow when I break my fast.
I was even crying while I ate it, not because it was that good, but because I happily went heavy on spices. It wasn't that spicy, I've just discovered that my body reacts strongly to spice. It's kinda funny, I can be crying, my nose can be running, I can be sweating, and I still won't think it's that hot. It's really funny.
Oh yeah, there is one other little tidbit about today: the power went off twice. It went off at 6 this morning, then came back at about 8, then went off about 8:45, then came back on at about 1:15ish.
E.Mathemera melted the plastic on our iron when he was determined to iron his shirt despite the power outage, and put it on the burner. He was really funny because he kept updating me on how damaged it was during the entire process. BUT!! It still works. Used it to iron four shirts as a piece of wisdom to combat the power outages in the future.
6/2
Fast Sunday. They really hurt as a proselyting missionary. Hunger? Not an issue. Most missionaries I know can go for days without food if they're actively working. I've never tested it my limits, but I'm more or less the same way. The issue is with water. We work in an extremely humid environment in the heat, thirst is an absolute killer on fast Sunday.
Breaking the fast was fun. I made the fake Yakisoba again, and my companion made too many pancakes, so he gave me one. I downed an Embe drink with it, and I'm down for the count. Can't move, no thank you. No, those aren't cookies you're seeing me snack on, they're just an illusion. I'm not snacking at all.
Anyway, we did have a good lesson today with Kevin's little sister: Neria. She told us straight up: she wants to get Baptized, and she wants to serve a mission. I think she's funny. B.Kevin told us that the missionaries had taught her everything before, she just needs a review. She had to leave before she got Baptized last time for her job. She works out in Zanzibar. She's a really good singer too.
Anyway, here's something funny today -that proves my point about people here disappearing and reappearing at random- we got an SMS today from a guy that told us he'd been given the number by a missionary named Coombs. Coombs has been home for 7 or so months now. It's kinda funny that this happens. Annoying when they disappear on you, funny when they reappear from another pair of missionaries.
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