4/22/2019 Blog Update 4/22

4/15
Aish, the power went out today. When did it go out? Right as we reached the cyber. We were literally taking off our shoes to enter the shop when the power went off, and it stayed off for 4 hours. Soooo, I apologize for the lack of an update on the 14th, but it was due to circumstances beyond my control.
Today was fun, we went to a mall with the Temeke Elders, E.Bailey and E.Buthelezi, and E.Bailey and I looked on in amusement as our companions went crazy for two of the stores there, and KFC, but we'll get to that one in a minute.

I don't remember the name of the stores we visited where the South African Elders went crazy, but they were having a blast from the past. The two shops we visited were both from South Africa, and neither of them had been since they'd come out. I suppose I'd be the same if I found a Wal-Mart or a Costco. They were funny though.

Anyway, after we visited those shops, we ate at KFC. It was horribly expensive (I got the 3 piece chicken strips for 6000TSh), but good. I ordered the spicy one too. I got my food first, and took a bite of my food before the other Elders got to the table. E.Buthelezi looks at me and he thinks that I want to cry. I was honestly confused because (while I do hate spending money) I didn't feel like crying. It turns out that my eyes were watering because of how spicy the chicken was, I've just gotten really good at ignoring the burn in my mouth, to the point that I don't notice it unless it's really bad. The rest of my body was certainly reacting though.

So, my companion was rather...amusing while we were eating. He has a deep and well known love of KFC. Think of me and pizza and that will give you an idea of what we're talking about here. He just tucks into his food with a joy just ROLLING off his shoulders - completely focused on his food, allowing no distractions. It was great to watch. Half way through the meal the Tabata Sisters show up -a guy is treating them to lunch- and E.Phokane successfully nabs a bit of chicken (and a fry) from each of them. I thought we'd have to drag him out of there. We got out in the end though. It was a long, fun, P-Day...then the power just HAAAADDD to go out. Geh!

E.Phokane had to call the Assistants so that we wouldn't get fire from the President for not emailing him. We'll take care of that tomorrow morning.

4/16
Emailed home today. It was nice to hear from ya'll. Got to email President too, the whole nine yards.
It was quiet today though, we went and visited S.Veronica, and E.Phokane helped her reschedule her Baptismal Date, I really hope she meets this one. I chatted with B.Kevin, and we talked about Joseph Smith a little, and what a "martyr" is. It was nice.

We did some contacting too, all the Muslims are coming out of the woodwork this week. It's because of Easter, and Good Friday - they observe that here. Usually they just quietly accept the pamphlet, and move on (I assume, no one I have contacted has ever told me no because they were Islamic before today). There was one guy who was kinda funny though, he was Islamic, but he happily asked for a pamphlet, and said that he didn't like his religion. It was kinda funny, and I was prompted to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon sooooo....I dunno. I've heard that converting a Muslim is hard. I kinda doubt it'll come to anything.

4/17
Exchanges today, with the Zone Leaders. E.Phokane is a District Leader, so they're supposed to exchange with us every transfer, but it didn't happen last transfer for some reason. E.Phokane went to Mbezi to be with E.Tsuangu (Chan-gu), and E.Villard came over here with me.
E.Villard is pretty amazing, he's from Haiti, and he's the first Haitian to serve a mission - ever. Well, Haitian living in Haiti. It's possible than an immigrant to the U.S. from Haiti served one, but I don't know for certain.

We didn't get to teach or anything, just contacting, but it's been nice.

4/18
So E.Villard and I went contacting again for a while, then we -which means me- taught English class, just a quick one. We only had one student, and he only brought 16 words for me to define.
I don't know what they're gonna do if I'm moved out of Chang'ombe, I'm (and I say this will all the due arrogance) pretty much the only one that can teach English class, E.Bailey taking second place. Since almost all of the teaching we've done for English Class so far is defining words you need to have a rather large vocabulary, and a good enough understanding of the words to explain them simply. I fall under both.

Anyway, after English Class E.Villard and I took a Daladala to Kinondoni by Morocco to meet up with our regular companions.

E.Phokane and I were stuck at Kinondoni Chapel for a little while because of the rain, then we headed back to Chang'ombe.

We meet with a Sister member today. Her, and her family. We shared a thought about the importance of Personal Prayer and Scripture Study, as well as the importance of Family Home Evening, and we'll have her teach us a lesson next week. We're trying to get members more excited about the work.
Good Friday is tomorrow, apparently it's celebrated here in Africa. We barely acknowledge it's existence in America. The Easter holidays here in Africa go from Good Friday, to Easter Monday. It's quite a bit more impressive here. We - I have yet to see what they actually do to celebrate.
There is a Couples' Activity sponsored by the Church tomorrow, and the missionaries are invited, being a 6-week couple has it's perks, huh?

4/19
We were on time to the couples' event, everyone else was two hours late. Apparently "African Time" is just as much a thing as "Utah Time." In Utah, everything is ten minutes late, in Africa, it's an hour. We even left as they got started to take care of some business, but we were back in time for the food.
I had to deal with some odd feelings as a pulled a spine out of the meat I was eating, I don't really like bones in my food. They also gave us a fried banana (vile) and chips (sad, sad, pathetic french fries that everyone cooks here). The meat was good though, and I had some FANTA Orange with it. They like Fanta here.

Aside from that, today was quiet. Everybody was at home for Good Friday. We did drop by and say hello to a member -shared a spiritual thought- and left. The most interesting thing is that a guy asked to take a picture with me, so if I'm put in jail randomly for a crime I didn't commit, I blame the photograph. My chances of getting a "not guilty" are low no matter how much evidence I have. Just a random thought.

4/20
We finally got to teach today, and did so without realizing it till later. We brought a "My Family" pamphlet over for S.Veronica, and B.Kevin just so happened to be there -and the spirit just so happened to tell me to bring two pamphlets- so we gave it to her, and started answering questions. We taught them and only realized it later since we weren't planning to teach.

Aside from that, we traveled to Mbezi today. We had to get something from the Mbezi Elders, so we met them at their chapel. It was a lot of traveling, I'm wiped, and bleeding. One of the conductors cut me and I bled 300 TSh. I feel betrayed since you can usually trust these guys. You can't argue with them though, just pay up.

Can't say I completely blame him though, all the conductors have been desperate as of late, they aren't getting as much business with the Easter holidays.

"Our animal..."Guests""

We have three pets here, a spider -who is welcome- who lives under our sink named Frederick, a lizard who live on the side of the house -is mostly ignored- and doesn't have a name, and a very, very un-welcome cricket who has recently taken up residence in our room. I call him "Extinct." I hate Extinct with all the vigor of my soul, and my ears used to hate him, but they were the first casualty of war. The cockroaches must have sent him.

4/21
"A Special kind of Arrogance"
There is an interesting kind of people you'll see here in Dar es Salaam -I haven't run into them personally- they absolutely refuse to speak English.

Apparently, there'll be times when a person who speaks good, if not perfect English, but who will absolutely refuse to speak it, and demand that we speak Swahili. E.Bailey and E.Buthelezi were telling us about a Less-Active Member they called to get in touch with, he picked up the phone, and they told him that they didn't speak Swahili, he hangs up instantly. They call again, he jabbers in Swahili then hangs up, they call again. He finally says: "You no speak Swahili" in English, then hangs up and refuses to talk to them.

It takes a special kind of arrogance to refuse to speak and communicate in a language that is the key to your sucess. English is such an important language that they teach it at all the schools here in Dar, but there are some people who don't want to go anywhere, or get out of poverty, so they refuse to use it.

I've already seen this kind of behavior before, but the root cause is different. The people who I've had to deal with who refuse to speak English usually refuse because they're nervous and scared of making a mistake, not angry about a foreign language.

"Conference"

We got to see the last session of Conference today, it was nice. We had a few different speakers throw fire, it was a lot of fun for us Missionaries to hear, E.Bailey and I were chatting excitedly about how direct they are. He even joked about going back to the days when excommunications were preformed during General Conference.

I need to re-listen (or read) Conference, we only got to see three sessions, and I need time to study them all out. So, now I wait for June to roll around when we'll get the April Liahona. An African mission teaches patience. A lot of it.

Nothing else today, but we are planning to visit Kariakoo tomorrow, that should be fun.

4/15/2019 Blog Update April 15

4/15 Blog Update
4/9
Today was good. The spirit gave me an idea last night, and we changed the way that we contacted people. Our old record was 4 in a day. Today was 23. I had asked my parents for advice about the area since it's very hard to find people. The both advised me to camp out in front of the University, but I ignored that and had an idea based of the foundation of that idea: a place where a lot of people are! So we went around to different bus stops (called "stages" here) and talked to everyone. It was a booming success. Now the question becomes: how many will we actually teach?

We also taught S.Veronica her last lesson, and went over the Baptismal Questions with her. She's ready. I'm rather happy for her.

4/10
Well, today was interesting for one reason: we have a new investigator, and we weren't expecting that. We had actually gone to teach a Recent Convert named Kevin. He's the one who translates for us when we teach S.Veronica, and he gave her name to us as a referral. He's solid, has the Aaronic Priesthood, a true desire to learn, and is working toward the temple in December this year, or January next year - can't remember which. Anyway, we headed to the meeting point: S.Veronica's shop, and called him. We sat on a concrete step, and contacted a guy who turned out to be Kevin's younger brother. We gave him a pamphlet, told him a little bit about it, then started teaching Kevin when he showed up. His brother (who's name I need more practice in saying, and I don't remember how it's spelled) stayed and listened as we taught B.Kevin, and asked questions. B.Kevin helped translate for us, and we taught them both at the same time. So we have a new investigator, his brother is a powerful convert, he asks a lot of questions, and he seems to be earnestly seeking faith in his life. Boys, we are in business. *Rubs hands together in glee*

4/11
*sigh* Today, was long. We went contacting and were able to contact 12 people. Not our record, but pretty good. We did that before lunch, then headed over to Kinondoni for interviews with President Msane. My interview was supposed to be at 6, and E.Phokane at 6:30, well, originally an hour earlier than that, but President's flight was delayed. So everything else was delayed, then interviews ran long, and blah, blah, blah. Point is, E.Phokane and I got our interviews rescheduled at the last possible second, and we got home 40 minutes after home safe. We spent an hour standing in a Daladala (couldn't get seats) as we worked our way home. It was a nightmare.

4/12
Zone Conference today. We left first thing in the morning (7:55ish), and got back at 8:30. Zone Conference itself was good. I was able to contribute a lot to the discussions, and a lot of good things were shared.

I did have a shock during lunch when they gave us tortillas and let us pick our own filling. "What's shocking about that?" Well, Tortillas look like this food here in Tanzania called: Chapate. I personally love Chapate, it's excellent. A tortilla, is like a sad, pathetic, lonely, dropped on it's head, abandoned, poor excuse for a Chapate look-alike. I had thought they were pretty much the same thing till I had that tortilla today, now I know they're not. I need to learn how to make Chapate.

Anyway, President Msane took the time to interview E.Phokane and I. It was nice. He's a good mission president, I'll miss him when he's gone, but I have heard good things about the up-coming President Mdletshe (I think that's spelled right? E.Phokane? "Yeah, that's it." Good.).  E.Phokane told me that this was actually a really good zone conference too, people were actually engaged and talking. Apparently, they're usually quiet and boring affairs, but this one was nice. I dunno, this was my first one. I was sick in bed during the last zone conference.

4/13
It was quiet today, but still good. We were able to contact 10 people, which is precisely the amount of pamphlets I was carrying. Fun! Literally nothing else happened. I wasn't joking when I said that it was quiet. The local soccer club was playing, so everyone was "busy." (pronounce that "s" like a "z" and draw it out to say it like the people here.

4/14
We had a meeting after church today. The branch president and his two councelors were supposed to be there, but the only one who came was the first councelor. We were discussing missionary work here in Chang'ombe, hopefully the meeting will help things move in a better direction. I can't really share anything that was said, but it was good.

Aside from that, today was quiet. I was able to read (and finish) True to the Faith, and I plan on starting the "Teachings of the Presidents" series next week. I don't have access to them all here, but I'll get to read a few of the interesting ones.

By the way, I would encourage everyone to read President Ballard's talk during the October 2018 conference. I believe he only spoke once. I re-read it in the Liahona today, and it was fantastic. The Spirit was so touching and strong, I believe that reading it will comfort those who have recently lost a loved one. That belief, is strengthened by the spirit residing in my chest. President Ballard shared a heartfelt talk, one that he had a personal stake in, and the testimony of it was powerful because of that.

4/8/2019 Update

4/1
We went to the Couples' Flat today to watch the "Safety Zone" videos (Mom, do not watch them, you'll worry. Dad, you're okay.) It was completely crowded because the entire zone was there for it. Though, I hated watching the videos, not because they were boring or anything, but because I get paranoid whenever I learn of a new issue, now I'm worried that I have tapeworms. Great. Though, aside from that, let me say this: the couples' flat is NICE. I liked it there a lot.
It also rained a lot today, once while we were at the couples' and once while we were on the way back to our flat. I mentioned in the last update how hard it rains here, right? Well, we met a member a few minutes after it stopped, he looked at me in surprise, and asked why I was sweating. It took me a second to realize what he was talking about. My hair hadn't dried yet from the rain, and the water was dripping down my forehead; he thought it was sweat because almost all the men here have hair shorter than a buzz cut so they aren't really familiar with the concept of "hair needing to dry."
Anyway, tell Ellie to read the book of Abraham. I have my reasons, but I won't share them, because they are sacred.
4/2
Well, today was rough for a very specific reason: the power was out the entire day. From 5 or 6 in the morning, to just after 7 at night. Power outage? No. They just shut it off; no warning, no explanation, no discernable reason. That makes it nearly impossible to sleep, because it doesn't take too long for the room to heat up. Fortunately, it didn't get too hot in the room, I was only sweating kidogo, but it still woke me up. I had a: "it's quiet, too quiet" moment, and then I realized that the fan wasn't running; despair set in after that realization.
We also got to teach S.Veronica today. We taught the Word of Wisdom (aka The Law of Health), and Tithing/Fasting. It went well, there was some confusion about the consumption of pork, as well as what qualified as "undrinkable" tea. They call any non-coffee hot drink tea here, even Hot Chocolate. That took a long time to clear up. Tithing was easy to teach to her, no issues what so ever.
E.Bailey told us more about Mombosa today. Apparently, there were only "4" worthy priesthood holders in the entire branch, and half of that four were the missionaries. The third was the Elders Quorum President, and the former Branch President (though they weren't so sure about that last one). The issue? The Law of Chastity. He told us that half of the active people were excommunicated because of that (though he didn't say how big the branch was). The missionaries had to bless and pass the sacrament, as well as speak in sacrament, and teach priesthood every week. The Elders Quorum President presided and conducted every sacrament meeting. The more I hear about Mombasa, the more I never want to see that place.
"A Special Kind of Pervert"
I told this story to my parents, they started laughing, and told me that they would have to share it, so I decided to write it down for them, make it nice and easy to share.
So, there are different kinds of stores here in Tanzania. (from biggest to smallest) The first is a Mall, like you all know. The second is a grocery store like you know. The third is a single room store with the walls lined with shelves, and bars over the part of the room open to the outside. It looks almost like a prison cell. You tell the owner what you want to buy, and they hand it to you through the bars. The next kind of store is the street vendors. They just set up a booth on the side of the road and dump their wares on a table, and sell. The last kind of store, is the one that this story is about. It's literally just a guy walking around either holding his wares, or hanging them around his neck. You'll see them selling all kinds of things: watches, souvenirs, cleaning supplies, belts, shoes, ties, bras, I saw one guy selling phones once. They were probably stolen. OH? Did you notice the one thing on the list that seems wrong? Yeah, it's really funny to see a vendor walking around with a hand full of bras in either hand. You see a lot of people putting stuff on their heads to carry it here, so I'm waiting for the bra vendor who's brazen enough to put them on his head. You have to be a special kind of pervert to be a wandering bra vendor. (Parents, edit this joke for appropriateness, stop it when it goes too far) Imagine being this vendor walking up to a woman: "Excuse me miss, I was looking real close, and I think that this here green bra would fit you just right."  (I have Jeff Foxworthy talking in my ear right about now) Can you imagine how many times these vendors would have been slapped in the US? I honestly wonder how much business they get. I can't imagine that it would be much.
4/3
We had a meeting today called "DDM". It stands for: District Development Meeting. They are boring, and they are run by the District Leader, my companion. He assigns everyone to do something. Chorister, Opening Prayer, Missionary Handbook Training, Our Purpose, Spiritual Thought, then we count our areas and give each other advice, then PMG training, then sing again, pray, and go home. It can be interesting if someone has a unique problem they need help with, but today we had something funny happen instead. Every companionship in the District has someone with a Baptismal Date on the 21st of April. We also get to watch the Sunday Afternoon Session of General Conference on the 21st of April at 1 in the afternoon - so there needs to be some finagling to get this all sorted out. Aside from that, nothing interesting happened today. We just dropped off some pamphlets.
4/4
*hurk* Ahem. Excuse me, just a little something of the devil in my stomach. Anyway, I got fed by members today. I have been offered food twice before while visiting people, but I was able to avoid partaking because I wasn't hungry on either occasion, but I wasn't able to avoid it today, twice.
While we were visiting B.Steven today (less active member) he brought out Ugali, and fish. The fish was all right, if a bit...off. As far as the Ugali...no. I had successfully avoided eating it up to this point. I had gone out of my way to avoid it, but I couldn't no longer. I don't like Ugali, but it has proved to me that the Gospel is true once again. I was able to eat it all without gagging. Praise the Su- *ahem* never mind. (Dark Souls reference)
After that, we went to a dinner appointment with S.Kawinga, the Branch President's wife. E.Buthelezi and E.Bailey setup the appointment, and they used it as an opportunity to teach an Investigator, so it was nice. We hurried back after that, but weren't able to get to an appointment we set at 6, so we rescheduled for tomorrow.
Aside from that, we got kicked out of the church today. We were kinda in the way of the workers doing remodeling there, and we weren't technically kicked out, it was just too dusty to breathe everywhere we went.
That's all for today.
4/5
We taught S.Veronica again today. The lesson was also about an hour and a half long because of interruptions and extremely specific questions. We were teaching about Temples and Families (the name of the pamphlet), and the concept of Baptism for the dead just blew their minds. Oh yeah, B.Kevin, a recent convert and our ever helpful translator, was there too; his mind was blown wide open by this, just like hers was. He understood it, but he didn't understand it, so we were teaching two people. The biggest issue is that they haven't seen it for themselves, so it was a bit hard for them to grasp. When we talked about endowments the Spirit was there very strongly, and I shared what I hope was a powerful testimony of the Celestial Room. When we got to teaching about Sealing...it got ugly. We got questions about extremely specific situations. "What if my husband is Roman Catholic and..." There were four or five questions that started that way. The situations were way too specific, almost unimportant, but I can't say that their questions are unimportant, because they need to understand as much as possible. Still, it took a while.
Aside from that, we did a bit of contacting. No luck. We met some people, but they aren't serious...or at least they didn't seem serious. Time will tell.
Oh, here's something funny. There is a sister in the branch who's been telling E.Buthelezi to visit her ever since he got here. It finally got to the point where she gave him fire last Sunday, and he ended up visiting her today with E.Bailey. I'm kinda curious about what spiritual thought they shared with her. I'll have to ask tomorrow when we go visit her.
4/6
Well, we didn't get to visit S.Monica today, and it was pretty slow in general. "Simba" (the local Soccer Club) was playing today, and if Simba plays, we don't get to work. Everybody will be "BUSY".
So, there are two things I want to talk about that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. I'll start with the faster one:
"Simba" means Lion, and "Rafiki" means Friend. Now go watch Lion King with that knowledge. I don't think I'll be able to stop laughing. I need to find out what Mufasa, Zazu, Timone, Pumba, and Nala mean. Somehow, I don't think all of those are Kiswahili. They might be some other language, but I might be able to find Mufasa in Kiswahili. I'll look. (4/8 edit: I think they might all be Swahili actually, but I'm still not sure)
The next thing I want to talk about is: "BUSY". I forget what the exact phrase is in Japanese, but it's something like: "Dekiru wa dekirimasu". It means "I'll do it if I can". The real phrase (which I'm forgetting) means: "I'll come if I can" (I know the word "kuru" is used but the rest...). The Japanese would say this phrase to my father (oh, ask him, he remembers - if he's anything like me, it'll be burned into his mind from how many times he's heard it) as a polite way to say no. Well, here in Tanzania the key phrase is "Busy". There was one person we gave a pamphlet to that told us that she'd been too busy to read it, but her store was close and she was messing around on Instagram. I just looked at her with a "really?" face. People will always say that they  are "Busy", but they are actually lazy, or don't care. It's so exasperating. I even get to hear it from my family when I call home to ask about the commitments I've give them. "We were too busy..." NO! I'm too busy! Ya'll have time. I don't. One thing I've learned is that if something is truly important to you, you'll find a way to make time for it. Here's something I'm started..."considering" sharing this with the investigators who tell me they are "BUSY" (pronounce the "S" like a "Z" and draw it out): "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7) If you endeavor to read your scriptures every night, the Lord will help you do that, but it is up to you to follow through...I don't know, something like that.
Anyway, I had rotten luck this evening, literally, both my eggs were rotten. I cracked one into the skillet and most of it evaporated the second it hit the pan, and it looked like there was blood in the yolk. The second one looked the same as the first (from the outside), so I didn't even bother trying to crack it - into the trash it went. That kinda hurt since an egg is 300TSh FOR EACH EGG. You can't buy anything in bulk here. It's all individual. You go up to a shop and ask for toilet paper, tell them the brand, and say how many rolls you want. BTW Toilet Paper here is...ahem...not the best, and it's 500TSh per roll, for the cheapest stuff available. I've even tried the "good stuff" (1000TSh per roll), I actually think it's worse than the cheap stuff. For those of you in the US who looked at those numbers, did the conversion, and said "That's pretty cheap." All I can say is: "NOT to a Missionary." We be broke. :3
4/7
Sho!!! We got to see the Afternoon Session and Priesthood session of Conference today. They were both recorded, but it was still nice. The Afternoon Session was all right, and Elder Holland did an excellent job, but he needs to find glasses with a thinner frame for when he speaks. You can't see his eyes with the current ones. (I know you've all seen Conference at this point, I'm just adding my input)
As far as the priesthood session...it was good, but the First Presidency really knocked it out of the park with their three talks. I like President Eyring a lot, but he hasn't really touched my heart before like this, and I have to confess that the only talk I remember of President Oaks' is his "Good, Better, Best," but they were both POWERFUL this session. As far as President Nelson well...yeah, he's the Prophet of God, and you told me not to call you to repentance, but the Prophet is, so go listen to him, I'll join you. I need to improve anyway.
One thing that E.Bailey picked up on is the fact that they kept talking about our bodies, and about the importance of "sustaining" our Prophet through our actions, so from this side of Conference (having seen only two sessions) it seems like the changes to the Word of Wisdom are true, but by the time you get this, we'll know for sure. As I'm writing this, the Sunday Morning Session just ended. The suspense is "killing" me. Aigh. We know nothing. Argh.
Anyway, to speak a little about the miracle of Creole. My Mother sent me with two little cans of the stuff - one for each year. I don't think It'll be able to last. I have discovered that the claim on the tin that: "it goes great on everything" so far holds up. I've put it on: Noodles (Instant Ramen), Eggs (Fried), and Bread (discovered that one by accident). Hey, I don't eat that much at the flat. Just stuff I can buy cheap. Lunch is a celebratory affair for me, I eat out.
I'll call this little thing "Food Concerns." I have long decided to avoid dinner appointments as much as possible, and I have a new reason for it: improperly cooked food (food poisoning). The standards aren't as clear here. There is 1 restraunt I'm 100% certain is good, everything else is a risk, and eating at members is gambling.
You know...I think there are two things in my life that prepared me the most for my mission. Was I truly prepared before I came out? NO. But there are aspects that I've been able to easily adjust to because there are experiences in my life that have prepared me.
The first I would say is The Boy Scouts of America. It really is too bad that they lost the Church's support, because they are a really good organization, they just have some foolish policies. I've found that knowing all that I do from scouts has really helped me in a lot of different aspects of my mission: From Cooking to First Aid to Money, I've found that scouts has helped me in many aspects of living here in Africa, away from "Mommy" for the first time.
The other thing that I really think helped me was Home Teaching -yes, it's called Ministering now, but what helped me was HOME TEACHING, not Ministering- I got used to teaching people, preparing a lesson, extending invitations and commitments, and following up. All of those things are excellent skills for a Missionary.
I also think that my job in door to door sales helped a lot. I got used to rejection, I got used to walking for long hours in the hot sun, I got used to talking to everyone, and greeting everyone I couldn't talk to. It's interesting to see the Blessings in my life from my experiences, still would never recommend door to door sales to anyone though.
Side note: Hakuna Matata is Swahili.
4/8
Aigh. Well, it's P-Day. I'm doing this update while waiting my turn to cyber.
We went to Quality Center this morning. It's like what a mall would be if it almost never got customers. Most of the shops were closed, and it was almost completely empty. There was a "fun" center there, we went there as a zone and it was "fun." It was a like an overpriced, run down, empty Fun Park. I gave them 10000 (screams in agony) for credits, and I got to play a racing game twice, and a basketball game twice. I will admit that it was pretty cool having the highscore on the basketball machine for an hour before E.Ikahihifo (pronounce it Japanese!) beat my highscore. Literally nothing else happened. We were there for hours, and most of it was either waiting, or trying to figure out what we were doing.

4/1/2019 -- Rain, Rain, Rain

Hahahaha! I've gotten a hold of a word processor, now I can write throughout the week! To be 100% honest...I'm over the moon about this little thing. Anyway, because of that (or rather this ;)) The way I do emails will change. I think that it'll look a little more like a journal, and less like an email. Any complaints? No? Good. I would ignore them, and they would be overruled by my mother anyway. The more info she gets, the better (don't even deny it Mama Bear).

So, as I'm writing this little email it is Saturday the 30th. Things have been going well, but it looks like the rainy season is here, and it POURS water like nothing else. It only takes a few minutes for puddles deep enough to go up to my ankles. Which is a really bad thing since road repair here isn't the greatest thing ever, but I'm still alive, and my shoes are still un-drowned.

Last week was transfers, and boy was it hectic. I wasn't moved or even involved in anyway, I just got to watch the madness as my companion -who is a District Leader- had to get everything sorted out. We had one sister -Ziribagwa- from our group go home after finishing her mission. It was funny to hear E. Phokane call her the night before she left, she told him that she was nervous to go home. I kinda laughed at that. It was also really exciting for E. Clegg. He's been on his mission for 6 months and has spent the entire time in Dar Es Salaam, not just in Dar Es Salaam, but in Temeke (which is right next to my area Chang'ombe). He has been working with the same Branch the entire time and he was DONE. You could just see the tiredness weighing him down, and when we saw him at church the day after he got "the call" he was the happiest I've ever seen him.

So E.Clegg went, and E.Buthelezi (Boo-ta-lay-zee) got a new companion: E.Bailey who's coming from the Mombasa area in Kenya. I learned something very quickly the day that I met E.Bailey: Missionaries gossip like housewives. Worse even. It was great ;P. He told us this funny story about watching a guy (from their apartment) strip naked, attack some cars and people, then run full pelt (still wearing nothing) from a mob of angry people looking to smash his teeth in. There was one (completely unrelated guy) who was crossing the road in front of the streaker, who straight up Spartan kicked (or Yakuza kicked) the naked guy in the chest. The naked guy was laid out on the ground for a few seconds before he got up and ran away, the mob still on his tail. It was a pretty funny story when he told it, sorry if I don't live up to the humor. Oh, and apparently he had people come up to him naked to ask for money. I do NOT want to be assigned to his old area.

Speaking of asking for money, I already have to deal with that. There are people who will see me and literally stop me to ask for money. They'll walk up, shake my hand, then say something like "elfu tano" (5,000 TSh) and then I'll be like "bye". I had one guy stop me two days in a row in the exact same spot. The reason why people do this is 1: I'm white. Clearly I have to be rich (nice racism there, lotta fun), 2: I'm wearing expensive clothes. These white shirts really stand out, but it's still mainly the first reason. E.Phokane has never been stopped in the street. Sometimes when I'm eating lunch a handicapped person in a wheelchair will be wheeled up by a second guy (I have no clue why he's helping the handicapped guy) to ask us to buy lunch for them. The strategy E.Phokane taught me, was to just not look at them, they move on pretty quick. If it seems like I'm being heartless - well, I have two things to say: 1: I'm following mission rules by not giving the beggars money. 2: I don't have any money to spare. They give us enough to live on for a month and that is it. I am literally one step better than broke as a missionary - well, figuratively.

I had my first "fun" Daladala ride during exchanges, and during it I realized something: Extreme Sports wouldn't be enough for me anymore after that. Daladala riding is the best kind of extreme sport, the one that allows pregnant women and small children, and doesn't care about the "hands and arms in the ride at all times" thing. Anyway, I got to ride the smallest kind of Daladala, imagine a gutted van, include some of the most uncomfortable seats on earth, give nothing older than a 5 year old leg room, and leave space for people to "stand" and you have a pretty good mental image of the Daladala I was riding. We went down the most torn up and broken road I've ever driven on - at high speeds! I'm sitting in this thing, and I'm feeling detached amusement and terror, as well as actual pain, those seats were NOT good for my tailbone. While this is all happening I turned to E.Clegg (it was exchanges, remember?) and commented that I was having an Indiana Jones moment. It doesn't matter which one, just pick a car chase from one, and that's what it felt like. Still hate the Daladalas though.

It was really "fun" Friday night. We literally ran out of water. The water here is pumped from the city (or water company, not sure which) to these great big water towers in our yard, then an electrical pump pumps it into the house when we open a valve. So we ran out of water for some reason. Maybe we used up all our monthly allotment? That shouldn't be the case, this flat used to house 4 missionaries, and E.Phokane has never had this happen before.

I also got to experience my first trio for 24 hours as we waited for E.Bailey to arrive. It was...crowded - stuffy, I don't want to be in a trio for a full transfer.

Ooh, here's something fun, E.Clegg left behind a lot of stuff when he left. I grabbed a little statue of a Rhino and a knife, but I'm not sure if I'll keep that second one. I don't really like the design.

You know, there are times when I feel like I'm playing Skyrim. In Skyrim whenever you wanna sell the useless junk you've hoarded (and it's Skyrim, everyone who plays it is a hoarder, there's no reason for you to be carrying 200 wheels of cheese and ten full suits of armor) you have to go to a merchant and sell it to them, but they only have a certain amount of money so there are some things you can't sell. I feel like that when the stores can't find change for me. Not just the little stores here, but the big ones too. Since it's cash only, it can sometimes be hard to get change. Ugh.

The stores here are really interesting. Some of them are like the ones we know back home, if you see those ones, just know that literally everything is expensive in it. The second nicest kind of store looks like a jail cell. It's a room lined with shelves where the owner displays his products, and bars over the entrance to keep anyone from getting in. I've gotten used to passing groceries through the bars, as well as money. Whenever I really think about it it's like some kinda shady deal. The third kind of store is literally a person walking around while carrying his wares or hauling them behind him in a hand cart (I thought handcarts were done with the pioneers...). With the second kind, you see: "Oh hey, that guy's selling ties" then you just wave them over, look through their wares pick what you want, then buy it. They aren't really big on receipts here.

Here are some other fun little tidbits about Africa (since I actually have the time to write about this now): All the power sockets have switches to turn them on or off, All the buildings are made of concrete, All the ceiling here are super high - can't touch them even if I stand on a chair, so maybe 13 feet? Basements and Closets aren't really a thing here; I use a wardrobe. Yes, I do sleep with a net thanks for asking. I haven't touched the ground properly since the MTC. I wear flip-flops (here after called flops) indoors, and while showering. I also have to take off my shoes before entering anyone's homes. Yes, my clothes do dry despite the humidity, you can stop with the jokes now -_-.

"E.Benson?" "Yes, imaginary other person?" "How has the work been going?"
"..." "E.Benson?" "It hasn't really been "going" for most of the week." From Monday to Thursday we didn't get any work done. Couldn't contact anyone, didn't get any lessons taught, nothing. Let me make this clear: it wasn't for lack of trying, but it wasn't until Friday where we finally got to teach S.Veronica (more on that in a moment) that the week started to pick up, but I did spend most of the week so far dying of boredom.

Okay, here's the happier news: we now have three investigators with a Baptismal Date. S.Veronica, B.Michael, and his son B.Joseph. The second two are more exciting, but the first one is longer, so I'll start by talking about B.Michael and B.Joseph. All I can say, is that it's the Spirit's fault. I lay the credit for extending a Baptismal Date on the first lesson to Him, and they accepted, so it's definitely Him (I've already heard the Elder Calhoun jokes). It wasn't even an argument or anything we mentioned baptism and what came out of my mouth was: "Would you like to work toward Baptism?" I got nods from both of them so the next question that I asked was: "Would you like to work toward the 21st of April for you Baptismal Date?" They nodded again. I hope they'll be ready by then, if not, so be it.

Now as for S.Veronica. She's been a familiar face in my emails for a very long time. She was the very first person I taught in the field, and she's been having some issues recently. We extended a BD (Baptismal Date) to her a week ago, and got a "non-committal" answer. So, on Friday (yesterday) I kinda went to the lesson ready to dig my heels in and get a firm answer "yes" or "no". Well, I dug in my heels, and then I backed off. I had to make it clear to myself and to her that we weren't trying to force her into anything and that it was her choice, we just wanted to be the ones to help her get Baptized. I then started praying in my heart as that was translated to her, and she ended up agreeing to that BD, and told us that she felt peace in her heart, so it would be fine to Baptized sooner, or later. She would be ready. I kinda want to do a high-five with the Spirit now that I think back on it. I'm really hopeful that she'll meet her BD.

That's pretty much everything up to Saturday. I'll add something if anything interesting happens on Sunday.

3/31
Well, yeah nothing happened today. We went to church, the power went out, I worked on some talks and emails (my wrists are killing me!), and I listened to some hymns. Slow day.

Shoes with 7 weeks of wear in Tanzania

Chang'ombe Flat pics

Typical dinner for Elder Benson

Once a transfer splurge... Pizza Hut pizza with Elder Benson's
favorite beverage!

2019-03-25 Log of Video Chat (No Audio/Video for us)

“Video” chat with Erik. Monday, March 25, 2019. Erik could see and hear us. We could neither see or hear Erik. All of Erik’s responses were typed.

Erik: yo
Us: Can you hear us?
Erik: I don’t have a mic here. I can see and hear you.
Us: What about video?
Erik: I don’t have a mic or a camera. The usual place (internet café) is closed today. I got cheated out of 400 (tsh) today. No, I didn’t get transferred.
Us: How much money is that? About $4?
Erik: Actually, it’s about $2. Well, it’s a weird circumstance. I ordered my lunch, my companion didn’t and they doubled my order to give to him.
Us: They are so generous with your money
Erik: He didn’t have enough money so I had to pay for it. They thought that Elder P had ordered the same thing.
Us: When do you get more funds?
Erik: The end of the month. We withdraw at the end of every month.
Us: We cannot copy the chat log. We need to set up a shared google doc to use in place of this chat log. Then we would have a record of the conversation.
Erik: okay
Us: Who got transferred in your district today?
Erik: Elder Clegg. He was on cloud 9. He’s been on his mission 6 months, and he’s been here all 6! He’s somewhere in Kenya.
Us: Do you use your debit card to buy things?
Erik: I don’t use a card, I carry cash. Cash only!
Us: Do you have enough money?
Erik: Well, I’ll just be eating Walenyama twice today. I’m on a tight budget because I’m cautious (with my money). I withdew it all.
Us: What is Walenyama?
Erik: It’s beef and rice. It’s what I eat for lunch.
Us: Did you get Pizza Hut on Saturday?
Erik: Yes. It was 14000 (tsh). It was tiny! I ate it in one sitting.
Us: Did you get the stuff we sent?
Erik: I haven’t gotten it yet but the elders haven’t arrived from Nairobi yet.
Us: When do they come?
Erik: Tomorrow. Hey Dad, I killed a Gokiburi. One of his friends tried to jump on my head later. They are both dead. How big? BIG! The size of dad’s palm.
Us: Did you take a picture?
Erik: Why would I take a picture? It was huge! I have no interest in taking a photo. I was more interested in chucking the body out. Another of his friends also got revenge. I swallowed a fly as I was talking to Elder P. I quite literally puked!
Us: (laughing) Aren’t the flies really big there?
Erik: Yes. And tough. They are hard to kill for their size.
Us: How did you actually swallow it?!
Erik: I was talking to Elder P and it flew down my throat!
Us: Can you laugh about it now or are you still disgusted?
Erik: It’s been a week. I can laugh. Here’s something else funny. The sisters were teaching a guy. They found out later that he was a pastor who had just opened his own church. He was getting ‘ideas’ from the lessons. Read 2 Nephi 28. It warns about false priests. I also got to ride in the smallest Daladala (bus) last week. It was a van like the Arkoudi (neighbors) van. It had been gutted. I had an Indiana Jones moment while riding it.
Us: Which Indiana Jones
Erik: Any of them! The road was so bumpy that if I stopped paying attention I would hit my head.
Us: Do you want to hang up so you can send an email?
Erik: I kinda want to talk to you like this. I have taken notes so even if I have to wait to tell my stories they will get told.
Us: Can you see the pictures I (mom) sent with my email?
Erik: Some can. Some can’t. I saw Karissa got ‘The lightening Thief’ something. Pictures have to be sent as attachments.
Us: Aunt Kristen’s mother passed away.
Erik: I feel bad, but I know she wasn’t doing so well. I just wrote a 4 page talk on the plan of salvation, so I’m not too worried. I had nothing else to do on Sunday.
Us: Is it the doctrine according to Erik?
Erik: No. I have annotations and stuff. I’ll send it once I get the word processor. I plan on writing talks for all different kinds of things. And sending it home for you guys. I like ‘writing’ in my journal. But I would be able to send you more complete updates (with the word processor). Dad, teach Z how to polish his shoes.
Us: Did Elder P teach you how?
Erik: No. I taught myself.
Us: Did you hear anything about Elder Duke?
Erik: No, nothing.
Us: Are you still wearing the same tie?
Erik: I’m gonna kill that tie, and then move on. I have three, and the baptismal tie.
Us: Ugh! It must be so dirty!
Erik: It’s not dirty. I’m a Ninja!
Us: Have you had any baptisms?
Erik: No, no baptism, but the Spirit made me do something crazy yesterday. I extended two baptismal dates on the first lesson to a father and a son.
Us: What?!
Erik: Elder P was staring at me like ‘what are you doing?’ This isn’t Elder Benson!
Us: Way to go Elder Calhoun! Did they accept?
Erik: They accepted! No thoughts, it was just coming outta my mouth. The phrase in Japanese when they say ‘no’ is ‘dekiru dekirimasu’ right? The key phrase here is ‘busy’. ‘I’m so busy’. (Erik mimicking) “Oh, I can’t read, even though all I’m doing is messing with my phone as I’m talking to you, and nobody is coming to my business, I’m tooooooo busssssyyyyy!” I literally had a moment like that.
Us: Elder Duke went to Buruburu.
Erik Buruburu, huh? I kinda thought they would send him home.
Us: No. He is getting treatment in Nairobi. He feels he is doing better. He went from being numb to feeling pain. He says that is progress.
Erik: That’s good.
Us: Where you able to find more of the drink that you like?
Erik: Schweppes +C. Yeah, they started stocking it again after three weeks.
Us: Good. You need things like that to look forward to.
Erik: Yeah. That’s what I was thinking. This place doesn’t have a lot of things I need.
Us: Can you upload pictures and video?
Erik: I won’t have time here. I took a lot, so look forward to next week. Hi Jordie!
Us: Are you locking you SD card when you use it so you don’t get a virus?
Erik: Yes, I’m locking it. Haven’t forgotten.
Us: Patrick Olsen was going to be a trainer this transfer but his trainee didn’t make it out of the MTC.
Erik: He died:
Us: No. We went home early.
Erik: We had someone in the MTC group before us die.
Us: Yes, we knew but didn’t want to tell you for fear it would freak you out.
Erik: Yeah, I wasn’t worried. I don’t worry about death. I would have a ‘Dang It!’ I didn’t get to play Kingdom Hearts III moment.
Us: Well I do (mom) about you!
Erik: I don’t worry about death for myself. I’m terrified for the rest of you.
Us: We’re all fine here. Everyone is well and doing great.
Erik: That’s good.
Us: Grandpa went to the hospital last night with chest pain and shortness of breath but we was tested and everything looked good so he went home.
Erik: He’s okay? That’s good.
Us: Who got transferred today?
Erik: In the district, one sister went home. One went to Kenya. Elder Clegg is the only elder transferred though.
Us: How many sets of missionaries are in your district?
Erik: Two pair of elders, two pair of sisters. How goes my invitations? Hi Kiki!
Us: We are soooooo busy! Hahaha
Erik: That’s no excuse! I don’t see any fat cats here. There was one staring at me begging with it’s one eye. It was disgusting to look at. I’m not sure if my stomach was twisting from disgust or pity. I also really hate it when people walk up to me and ask for money.
Us: You’re perceived as a rich, white American.
Erik: Yup. Wearing a white shirt. I get fewer people bothering me than Elder Clegg. I look Chinese. I just look like I have money. Some of these people even look like they have more money than I.
Us: How’s your weight? Are you still losing weight?
Erik: Weight? Dunno. I’m eating more. I found the sweets isle.
Us: What do you eat?
Erik: They stopped stocking my fav. It was a brand of chocolate called Ivory. So, I’ve moved onto this stuff called Nutro. It’s like a grahm cracker with a bit of chocolate in the middle; like an oreo. They’re alright. I’m also eating Niseramen for dinner with my roll and egg.

Us: What is that?
Erik: Instant ramen. Nisemono Ramen.
Us: Do they have any peanut butter and chocolate treats like Reeses?
Erik: If they do, it would be expensive. The only time I saw Reeses here it was 4000 (tsh) for a little thing. That’s what I spend on my entire lunch!  Pringles here is 8000 (tsh). It is so expensive because it has to do with imports. At the cheapest, Nutella is 14000 (tsh) for a little jar. The value of stuff here is weird. I can buy a 1.25 liter thing of Sprite for 2000 (tsh).
Us: (Dad) I need to take the kids to school. I’m going to sign off. Well I’m not (mom)!
Erik: Mom isn’t going to let go.
Us: Do you think you can call 30 minutes earlier next time?
Erik: I’ll try. Today was weird. We had to ride a Daladala to this internet café. I should be able to do it. I usually go to the cyber at 3:00 anyway. Oh, before you go, I have some invitations.
Us: No, no, no! Too many invitations!!!!!!!!
Erik: Use only paper scriptures everyone. When you use paper scriptures, it’s easier to focus. There aren’t any distractions.
Us: We have been working on your invitations. Come Follow Me invited the family to memorize scriptures together. We will do that.
Erik: Memorize the articles of faith. We have forgotten them (from our youth). Dad, please help Z prepare a FHE on the Plan of Salvation. Use Preach My Gospel. Karissa, did you teach the  FHE I recommended? Please do so. It will help. I don’t want to hear anything about busy. I guarantee I’m the most busy here. I want her to teach a lesson on feeling the Holy Ghost. Should read chapter 4 of PMG to prepare. I promise that if she puts in her whole effort the testimony of the family will grow.
Us: (Jordan starts whistling)
Erik: Smack him! Anyway, I just want my siblings to get more involved in the gospel.
Us: The church is changing the seminary curriculum to be in line with Come Follow Me.
Erik: That’s good. I don’t remember any of the curriculum. I slept through it all. I haven’t heard a thing from Come Follow Me since I left.
Us: It will be good to have everything in line. Come Follow Me has helped with family discussion and participation.
Erik: That’s all very good. All I know is how we were when I left.
Us: What about general conference for you? How and when will you watch it?
Erik: We’re excited! (mom) No more caffeine for you! (Mom was drinking a can of Diet Dr Pepper while chatting). We should be able to watch it live, but we aren’t 100% sure.
Us: There is rumor of changes to the Word of Wisdom and missionary work.
Erik: We elders are expecting a new Missionary Handbook.
Us: Where will you go to watch it?
Erik: The chapel in Un Ubungo. It should be in English, maybe with Kiswahili subtitles. I know a bit more. I hate how the people here are about Swahili. If I try and us my broken Swahili (and I do) they laugh at me and say “Swahili is easy”.  I’m always tempted to mock them for their English.
Us: Don’t! Do you have a pillow?
Erik: Yes, I have a pillow. Sleeping well? My feet hand off the bed.
Us: Are you sleeping better?
Erik: I get up several times a night. I’m a super light sleeper now.
Us: Is it the heat? Noises?
Erik: I dunno. I just am a really light sleeper now. If my companion gets up to use the bathroom, then I wake up too.
Us: Make earplugs with TP to help block sound.  That’ what I do.
Erik: I’m not sticking the TP here into my ears! It’s really bad! It’s rough and it tears really bad. It doesn’t clean well either. And it’s 500 (tsh) a roll! You can only buy them individually. Everything here is bought individually
Us: We’ll send TP
Erik: Don’t send TP! Send more useful stuff, like nice pens.
Us: Are eggs sold individually?
Erik: Yup. Eggs are 300 (tsh) each.
Us: We sent you more pens. And refills too.
Erik: Good. I’ve killed three of those G-2s. I haven’t seen the refills. Using a blue pen after 2 months of black pens is weird.
Us: More are coming.  I had all your stuff packed nicely in a plastic packing envelope but Sister Duke decided to repackage everything because she heard plastic bags are illegal in Kenya. So illegal that it includes a fine and jail time.
Erik: Thank you! I like black more. Bye Dad! Plastic bags? Illegal? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! We’re given plastic bags EVERY TIME WE GO SHOPPING!
Us: Well it must just be in Kenya then.
Erik: You don’t want to be in an African jail. Hi Lacey! Lacey, help Mom prepare a FHE about your favorite Book of Mormon story. Well, Karissa should teach tonight, then Z, then Lacey.
Us: Then J?
Erik: Yes.
Us: (Dad) imitates nose picking then asks Erik if he can shake his hand.
Erik: Yeah, I’m used to it. Still gross.
Us: Are you still teaching English?
Erik: Still teaching English twice a week.
Us: (dad holds up picture of elders with giraffes)
Erik: Giraffe? Yeah, I’m not doing anything like that here. Hi Mal!
Us: We need to free up space.
Erik: Also, copy all the photos off my drive and delete the originals to free up space. My LDS email will be deleted two months after my mission.
Us: (Jordan) Kiki ‘nurses’ on my robe.
Erik: She nursed on my robe too.
Us: (dad) I’m taking the kids to school.
Erik: Okay. Bye. Bye.
Us: Can you send an email?
Erik: I can’t. Not this week? I’ll still talk to mom. I’m saying bye to dad. Bye Karissa. Bye Z. BTW they say ‘Zed’ here instead of ‘Z’. I have 35 minutes left. Not enough time for an email. So I’ll just talk. Bye Love you.
Us: How is V?
Erik: She didn’t come to church Sunday (sick), but she has a baptismal date. Jordie, Lacey, keep this secret from K and Z. I’m marking my little hymn book, and I plan on giving it to whoever will serve their mission next. I underline phrases that stand out to me, make little notes, write down a list of hymns I like, that kind of stuff.
Us: That will be a hard thing to part with.
Erik: It’ll be easy to let it go. I’ve has this idea since the moment I bought it. I keep finding more hymns that I like. Just last night I discovered a hymn called, “School Thy Feelings”. I need to learn how to sing it.
Us: Is it in the hymn book? I’ll play a little for you.
Erik: Yeah, it’s in the hymn book. Slow down speaking. A little spotty. Talking slow helps. Yes, in the back (of the hymnal). It’s in the area for men only. I can’t find it on Youtube.
Us: What are you doing on Youtube?
Erik: Listening to Glorious and other hymns. I’ve been a good boy. The only time I broke the rules was to look up KHIII’s metacritic score. I cracked.
Us: Can you hear the hymn? I’m playing it.
Erik: No. It hurts. Playing electronics like that into a speaker hurts.
Us: I will include it on an SD card for you.
Erik: Just include every hymn when you do and some of the talks you like. Conference, devotionals, stuff like that. Full sessions too. I’ve been burning through all the talks on the SD card I have so please send only stuff from before 2015. If I suddenly cut off, I ran out of time.
Us: How is brother D?
Erik: He keeps bouncing appointments.
Us: I love that you are giving blessing.
Erik: Yeah, I’m giving blessings when I can.
Us: I love you so much! I’m proud of you! You are doing hard things; things I don’t even think I could do.
Erik: Thank you! I’m gonna be a freak when I get home. Any questions?
Us: How are you and Elder P doing together?
Erik: Good. We don’t fight or argue.
Us: (Jordan) How do you get money?
Erik: We go to an ATM at the end of every month. Stores take cash only except high end expensive places.
Us: What about your debit card?
Erik: So I don’t use or carry my card.
Us: Do you feel safe in your area:
Erik: Sometimes the only way around is the shady alley. Whatever mental image of Africa you have doesn’t work. I can go from high end street, to the next street over being a literal slum. It feels almost like teleporting.
Us: How are you doing with the heat? There is no change of seasons or weather for you?
Erik: True. True. It’s still hot. I hate it. I’ll tell people how cold it gets in Utah and they don’t believe me. I haven’t ever felt cold here. But I’ll get home and you’ll hear, “Sho!!!! This is cold!!!!
Us: Keaton’s friend Cameron (who served in South Africa) said he is always cold now.
Erik: He told me that too.
Us: Have you found any souveniers?
Erik: No souvenirs. There’s a specific place where I could get them, but I don’t know how to get there. I have to go, I’m outta time, but tell dad what I’ve told you.
Us: We love you, Erik!
Erik: I love you too! Can’t wait to come home. I love the work, can’t love it any more.

3/18/2019 Update - Week of Blessings

'Week of Blessings' what kind of Blessings did you receive? Plenty, but that's not what I'm talking about. I got to give two Blessings this week. One of healing for Elder Buthelezi (bu-te-le-zi), and one of comfort and counsel to a Brother named Mwaja (mu-wa-jah). It was interesting, because I had never given a blessing before. I have consecrated oil, and I have anointed with oil, but I've never actually give a blessing, so I was really nervous both times. I just hope that my words were in accordance with the Lord's will. I won't share the reason for Brother Mwaja's blessing, but I don't mind sharing Elder Buthelezi.

E. Buthelezi had both of his elbows swell up during exchanges, and the right one was so painful to bend that I had to do up the top button of his shirt. So he had me give him a blessing of healing. There really aren't many details to it. Nothing fancy. The reason the had swollen up was because he pushed himself too hard while working out. (Take that as a warning Papa Bear. Stay on the Kubex 'Kandy')

So, to answer some questions my mother had: "Did Brother L make it to church today (Er, yesterday)? How is it going with Brother D? It was brilliant to have Brother L friendship Brother D. What about V. Are you teaching her again?"

Okay, I'll start with Brother Laudain. No, he didn't come to church, E. Phokane and I are gonna start working him over this week. He's a returned missionary too BTW. Served in Johannesburg.

Okay, with Brother Dennis. I swear he senses that we're gonna try and commit him to something. He keeps setting up appointments, and not coming. People here are absolutely atrocious with commitments, to the point where they actively avoid doing them even if they have the opportunity. What are we gonna try and commit him to? Baptism. Since he didn't come to church yesterday, the earliest we could do it would probably be the 21st of Apr.. He probably senses the commitment. Like blood in the water.

Okay, Sister Veronica. We did get to teach her again. We just showed up at the shop she was working at and we got 15 minutes to teach her (I set an alarm and everything). So we had to teach the Plan of Salvation in under 15 minutes with a translator, and we were interrupted. That was 'fun' still got it done though. 😎 We'll try and extend a baptismal date to her later this week.

Okay, here's something fun. The people here don't care about picking their noses in public, then shaking your hand with the hand they were just using to dig for gold. Let me set the scene for one such occasion. I'm teaching English class. I'm currently teaching this really annoying guy (he thinks he knows how to spell, and when I show him the proper spelling he ignores it). So, I'm defining words for him, and when I look up to make sure he get's it, he's digging for gold. He does this for five minutes strait, and then shakes my hand as he leaves. I waited a minute to make sure he was gone, and went to wash my hands, with soap.

English Class has gotten quite a bit more interesting recently. I got to teach about active voice vs passive voice, and about Pre-fixes ans Suffixes. I really wish I had time to prepare on that second one, but it was fun.

"Elder Benson?" "Yes, imaginary question asker?" "Have you ever been cheated outta money?" Why, I'm GLAD you asked. Yes, I have. Three times. Two of the three times they just strait up kept my change. Once at the local gas station where E. Phokane and I buy food, and the other time a waiter kept my money as a 'tip'. The third time a lady doubled the price of something I was buying. So I've been cheated out of 1,500 Tanzanian Shillings (TSh).

Wanna hear about the most miserable fast I've ever had? You don't? Too bad, I'm sharing anyway. So yesterday, I had to fast (we were asked to by the ZLs). Here's how I fast during a mission: The night before Sunday, I drink a lot of water (though apparently not enough if yesterday is any indication). Since I have to take a Doxy (Malaria Pill) every morning what I do is eat half a roll, and take the pill so I'm covered for the day. Since I don't count that as breakfast, I fast through breakfast and lunch. I eat dinner at 9pm, so it's a long day for me. That's the usual pattern, but yesterday, E. Phokane and I had to take a Daladala ( over to Ubungo (which is an hour away) then walk for four miles without a bit of shade in sight. Keep in mind, I'm fasting, but I don't care about food, what I wanted was water. It was 35C for crying out loud! Then I had to wait for an hour while E. Phokane did baptismal interviews for the Tabata Sisters, then we walked another mile or so to catch another hour long ride on a daladala. Let's just say that my fast ended a lot earlier than expected, and that I didn't realize that it was so easy to down a liter of water.

I'll be honest with you all. I think most of you know I got sick right after I got to Tanzania. That was one of the most MISERABLE experiences of my life. I hadn't adjusted to the heat, the humidity, being away from home, or literally anything about being on a mission, and I was sick in bed. I asked the Lord more than once why I needed that trial, I asked him as I felt like dying during a Daladala ride back to our flat. I asked him as I laid in bed with my covers absolutely soaked in sweat. I asked him as I woke up in the middle of the night shivering so hard that I couldn't control my limbs. It was horrible, one of the worst things I've ever experienced, and the Lord gave me the strength I needed to overcome it. So, I would advise anyone reading this who is having a hard time in their life to reach out to the Lord. Say a prayer from your heart, and rely on him. If needed, ask trusted priesthood holders for a blessing. To refuse or deny any of the help you could be getting is prideful, arrogant, and foolish. There is no need to suffer. God knows what you are going through, but he can't help you if you won't let him.

I'll end this update on that thought.

See you next week!
Elder Benson

3/11/2019 Update Blessings, and a Talk

I got to give a talk yesterday, I only found out an hour before though. My companion told me that I did a good job, which made me very happy. I was speaking about the Book of Mormon, and I just made it up as I went. All I can say on my end: it was a little rambling, but there was some treasure among the trash.

Something really funny happened yesterday while I was doing training with my companion. For training, we watch some videos that the church recorded some...13? Or so years ago. President Hinckley was still alive. Anyway, while I was watching the videos some familiar faces appeared. It was the Brown family! They were talking to the missionaries about referrals. It had me so shocked that we had to stop the video till I stopped laughing from shock.  [The Brown family lives in Erik's home ward.]

So apparently, I'm a 'Cheena' or Chinese. When people see me, first of all: they stare, second: they want me to greet them, third: they'll usually say 'Cheena' or Mzungu (White Guy). I hear China a lot more than I hear Mzungu. I even told one Sister that I was from America, and she asked if my parents where Chinese. It really amuses me to see and hear all this, because I've been asked on more than one occasion by AMERICANS if I was Japanese. I guess I'll get it everywhere.

So, let me be blunt (as if I'm not already): I hate it here. I really hate Africa. I didn't have anything like culture shock, but it's just different enough here for me to hate it. It's too hot and too humid. The power has gone out 20+ times since I've gotten here and it went out last night while I was showering. Which means that my cold shower ended rather abruptly.

But! For as much as I hate Africa, I love the work. There is nothing more satisfying than teaching a lesson with the Spirit. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing someone you invited to show up to church! There were two people in particular that stand out to me that showed up for church: Brother Laudain, and Brother Dennis.

Brother Laudain is a Less Active member that served a Mission in Johannesburg. He is a sweet and gentle man who has just wandered a little, and he joined us in church yesterday! It was quite unexpected. I had him fellowship Brother Dennis. Someone E. Phokane and I have been teaching. It was really satisfying.

Okay. I've been getting this question for a while (mostly from my Mother): Are my showers hot, or cold? Answer: look at the sky. Is it cloudy? Then cold. Is it raining? Unbearably cold. Sunny? Confusing. You won't be able to tell if it is hot or cold.

Well, I'm outta time for this update. See you in a week!

Elder Benson

The Chang'ombe meetinghouse

A large pepperoni pizza costs 19,000 TSH (Tanzanian Shilling).
Currency conversion:  19,000 TSH = 812.12 KES (Kenyan Shilling) or $8.10 USD.
The monthly missionary funds allotment is 15,500 KES.  So purchasing large pepperoni pizza
consumes just over 5% of his monthly budget.  He is saving up for pizza!  Hope he's not disappointed!!