Walked to Zimmerman again today. It's killing me. That's an hour-long walk first thing in the morning. The four Mandazi I got didn't help much, but they tasted alright (for being a bland -fake- doughnut). They were fresh though so that kinda made up for that.
We had service at a children's home, then headed back. It took a while to get back, so our first appointment was at 3. We had to change then we headed over. My comp and this Less Active had a long conversation about African punctuality. I sided with the less active on this one. DRC has a weird perception of "on time."
After that, we headed over to the Elder's quorum president's home to pick up him and his wife, then we took them with us to visit S.Linda. We had S.Jacky show up right as we got there, and Eugene sat in on the whole thing, so I happily had a lesson with four members present.
Bringing the sisters was a good idea, it was a good lesson, and we were able to talk about callings, talks, and "learning and serving in the church." It was short but good. I just threw the sisters on the hot spot to explain things, and we sat there quietly. We also took the opportunity to have B.Charles (EQP) explain baby blessings to her. It was a good lesson, and we barely said anything! Yay!
After that, it was back to cleaning out the area book for me. I'm going through and writing down phone numbers and throwing away "unprofitable" records. Pretty much people who were dropped for being trouble, or disappeared after a single lesson. Everyone else goes back in the book; unfortunately, there are very few from my original pile going back into the book. Most are going into the bin with their number in my little book. Kinda sad.
I'm also kinda realizing how messed up the Old Testament is, it's kinda clear from Genesis alone, but it's present throughout the rest of it too. I like to share verses with E.Cole to see him cringe, it's fun. Like the one about David presenting the foreskins of 200 Philistines to Saul as a dowry for his wife. That was super cringe-worthy. 1 Sam 18: 25-27. Don't worry about it if you don't understand it. You parents will explain when you're older.
7/26
Oh boy. We got TRANSFER NEWS today. I'm still here, E.Kanda is going to Chang'ombe to be District Leader, and I have to suffer this transfer since I'll have two DRC companions. I'll never hear English again, they'll only speak French. Great. My first comp is E. Tsangu. He was my Zone Leader in my last area. Not sure who the other one is. E. Kanda didn't hear the name right, and there are three or four DRC Elders with similar names... regardless, they're both DRC.
I also got a few Shuka (shook?) today. They're the blankets that the Messai wear. I like them, may have to pick up one or two more. I look like Oliver from Ni no Kuni when I wear mine. Kinda fun.
Anyway, we had an..interesting day. So interesting, I had to check my planner to remember.
Actually, this day started really well. We had Bishop Peter come by the flat this morning. He's the one we turn to, to get stuff fixed, replaced, and to get new things. He finally got me my stinking light bulbs, and the good quality ones he got were ridiculously expensive (300 each). These are the same light bulbs the Zone Leaders were trying to get me to buy. Heck no. We needed 8. That's 2,400 KSh.
He also showed me how to use my water heater, so I got to take a hot shower lasting longer than 1 minute for the first time in a very, very long time. It's my first hot shower in a transfer too. Nice!
Aside from that, he helped us out with some other stuff, and we showed him what was busted around our flat.
The scary thing about Bishop Peter is that he can recognize me when I'm texting. I mean, it's not hard since I'm the only one who uses proper English, grammar, and punctuation, but the fact that he got it so quickly is scary. He's good.
After that, we taught a guy named Brian. I still can't tell if this guy is serious, but he's showing some good signs, and some bad ones, so it could go either way.
We had lunch, got bounced, visited a member, then waited for Eugene and Bradley to meet us. We went to visit an RC who's now an LA with them. We sat down, and she started telling us her life story. It's a tear-jerker too. I felt bad I couldn't do more. I'll be seeing her again later, so maybe we can help her spiritually. As a trio, ugh.
I probably won't be talking much next transfer.
7/27
Well, I got Pizza today. It was alright. No little chasers, but alright.
I also got a hold of a red tie. Why is this important? It means my new P-Day attire is complete. E. Cole will call me edgy boo, and I will take it. I think it's cool.
Well, today was kinda farewell day. We went and said goodbye to S.Tracy. She moved out to Mwiki, so it's super far. I'm kinda hoping that we'll be able to start working out there more. If Tracy is able to help us, then we might be able to get a branch out there in 6 months, but that might be a little too hopeful. It's just my wish. I agree with E.Kanda's wish: I don't want Tracy to go inactive, but as is, it will be hard.
Anyway, we spent some time at a movie shop after we got back. I finally finished the errand I've been working on the entire week: I have the movie: "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" on DVD. I had to download it at the church, then move it to my flash, then I had to take it to the movie shop for them to put it on a DVD. We'll be using it to help the RCs understand more of the church. I'm pretty excited, but I won't be around to watch it since we have lessons right after church tomorrow.
BTW, you can get it and Meet the Mormons on one of the church's websites for free. For some weird reason, they also have Johnny Lingo. Just search "movies" on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and it should bring up the link. That's how I got there.
Anyway, we met up with a member (if you remember Alan from 3 or 4 weeks ago). We tried to meet with a brother at his business, but he bounced us, so we went to teach those two kids: Steve and Vivian. Alan did all the teaching. He tried to turn the lesson over to me at one point, but I wasn't following since the whole thing was in sheng, and I don't care about trying to learn bad Swahili. I just passed it back to him because I couldn't understand, and tried my best to stay awake. That walk to Mwiki wiped me out. Thank goodness we took a Matatu back.
We got bounced again after that, so we called it a day since it was too late to do any work, and E.Kanda needed time to pack. I just played with my shuka, read the Old Testament, and waited for my pizza. It was good enough. I'm kinda wiped for today.
7/29
Wiped? I didn't know the meaning of wiped till today. So, a recap of Sunday, then today.
We had Sacrament meeting, then after services ended we watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" or at least half of it - the power went out in the middle.
We missionaries ran out after that. We recruited a member to teach a few of our Investigators that had shown up today, then we were gone. We went with some RC kids to their home in Dandora. To be completely honest, I didn't feel comfortable there.
After Dandora we went to visit Sister Winnie, the older sister to our RC Sister Niece. It was a nice farewell for E.Kanda. We headed over to S. Linda's after that, she actually came to church yesterday! So we were super excited to see her. We taught her the very last missionary lesson, and we invited her to church again next week. It was pretty exciting.
We headed back to the flat after that. I did laundry, and I played interior decorator. It isn't a lot, but the flat will look a bit different from this transfer on.
Anyway, I had a hard time sleeping that night. I took forever getting to sleep, got up in the night a few times, and when my companion got up at 5 I couldn't fall back asleep. So I haven't slept much. My comp left at 5:45 and they left me with E.Muanda, then at 6:15 or so we had E.Kasongo show up at the door. At 9:00 we had a bunch of Elders show up and take E.Muanda and left me E.Mboyo. E. Kasongo left a little later, then E.Mboyo and I went to the cyber for a little while, then came back when E.Bamongo showed up. Then we waited for E.Tsangu (chan-gu). After he showed up they took E.Mboyo away. It was another hectic day, and I played interior decorator, again. The beds needed to be readjusted. I forgot to send my weekly update with everything that was going on (sorry Mom!) so you'll be reading this a week later.
7/30
Not much today, but this transfer is going to be long.
We started with weekly planning, then we went and had lunch, then met with Bishop Peter (we're trying to get my comps' toilet fixed, he also brought the long-awaited whiteboard), we went to see Anthony after that, then we contacted for a few hours. That's pretty much it for today.
7/31
Well, I kinda thought today would be a rough day, and I was right, but for the wrong reason. I woke up with a sore neck (I can barely turn my head - the pain is too great), and I woke up with a small cold. No fever, but the stuffy nose, headache, clogged ears, and a sore throat. The trend appears to be that I have to get sick at least once a transfer. I don't like this trend. Not at all. I also get sick enough to be bedridden every other time or so. That kinda sucks, but the rest of the day was actually pretty good.
We started the day off with DDM. It went alright, then we headed to lunch as a group of missionaries. I spent most of my time chatting with S.Murenje. She -like E.Mathemera- is from Zimbabwe. Between her and E.Mathemera if I have to train, I want to train someone from Zimbabwe. South African takes second place. The reality? I'll probably just train someone from DRC. I do not want to train an American. I'll consider it if they're African-American, but the thought of training a white American scares me. We would get ripped off so bad at every shop, and we would instantly become a more..appealing target. It sounds like an absolute disaster.
Anyway, we went contacting after that. We ended up finding Bradley's home in the process. It was kinda ironic considering the fact that we worked with him later today. We met with a few members and then we met up with Bradley to go teach S.Sophie from last week.
She's actually extremely passionate about the gospel, she was actually taking notes and asking questions as we were teaching her. It was a unique experience. It's rather unfortunate that she let things distract her from the Gospel. Bradley was a huge help too. It was a pretty good day aside from the miserable condition of my body.
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