My dearest family
Another monday, another day of rain. It has begun to rain everyday now. I am reminded of that picture of Adam on his mission when he got caught in the rain. That is me everyday. Ah, its fun. This week was pretty normal for me as well. Nothing too exciting happened. But we have picked up a few more investigators, which is awesome. Every member here has someone in there family that is not a member of the church. Like this past week we picked up two husbands that weren't members but the wives were. So most of our new investigators are from part-member families. Its our job as missionaries to pick the best ones to teach because not everyone is ready for this gospel yet. We pick the educated and the ones that best understand our message. I love it here because our investigators find us, and we don't really have to find the investigators. This mission is very unique in that aspect. It is also very unique because we can teach muslims. Sierra leone is very religious tolerant and we are allowed to teach muslims if they wish. We talk with muslims all the time and we invite them to church. We don't begin teaching until we know that they are serious, because everyone here would listen to us.
I have a cool experience that has nothing to do with missionary work. After we visited a members home that lives right next to the bay, we decided to enjoy the view of the ocean. About 4-5 boys about 12 or 13 yrs old walked by us with fishing equipment. They needed to cross the river that flowed into the bay in order to get to thier destination.. To cross was very difficult and required a lot of skill if they didn't want to get soaking wet. The first boy that went (who happened to be dumb, meaning that he couldn't talk) crossed the river after some time. He managed to cross without getting wet and the other boys tossed the equipment to him so they could cross. After he set the equipment down he turned to watch the others. Immediately he noticed that they would struggle and began to get in the water. He was in the water about chest high and he helped the other boys by showing them which foot to use and where to put their hands. He even carried some of the smaller boys across to the spot. I thought nothing of this until my companion mentioned that this boy taught us a great lesson. He did exactly what Christ does for each and every one of us. he shows us the way, which is perfect because he did not get wet. But instead of watching us struggle he was willing to get wet for the others and help them get to the other side. Its so true and it is amazing that this principle was taught to me by a small boy.
Sounds like youth conference was awesome. And the olympics have started, sweet. How did Deron and Booz do? Who do they play next? And not only does China have 20% of the worlds population, Asia has 60% of the worlds population and most of them don't have the gospel. I'm pretty sure the Lord will open that area up when we are ready. I know for a fact that the Kingdom needs to be strengthened in other places first.
I eat just fine. Its not like i'm starving or anything. I get 445,000 Leones a month and most of that is for food. That is about 140 dollars. 3000 leones to the dollar. I eat some bananas but they are kind of expensive. Some missionaries in our apartment came from Bo and the fruit in bo is so much cheaper. they refuse to buy fruit here and it has kind of stuck with us new missionaries. I haven't got sick yet (is that the right answer?) And oh my gosh I drink pop everyday. Before I came here I didn't like drinking pop, now I drink so much. If I come back fat, that is why. If I am thirsty in the day I have 2 choices. Nasty water that has so much bleach in it, or soda. So naturally I drink soda.
Elder Degen
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