August 29, 2011

Taylor & his nanny, Kathy. Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

To start off, this week was a bit discouraging. We had a couple baptismal dates that fell through. As of Saturday night we only had three with a baptismal date.

We had an appointment last night with a kid who we play soccer with on Wednesday nights. His whole family was there ready to learn from us. We taught lesson 1 and the first vision and all that fun stuff. And Elder Rodriguez and I committed them to be baptized on the 24th of September! Now we have 8 baptismal dates for September! It was a family of 5. Angelo is the 14 year old kid, his mom (who is deaf, so I’m learning some basic sign language), the grandma, an aunt that lives there, and the little 11 year old sister.

Angelo was born 3 months early, so his heart didn't fully develop. He still loves to play soccer though. And on Tuesday he has to go to the doctor to get an approval to play soccer. He asked for a blessing at the end of the lesson. He wanted me to do it for him. So I did. In the blessing I felt impressed to tell him that if he was obedient in doing what the Lord asks and come to the waters of baptism, that the Lord would allow his heart to not be affected in any way. And after the blessing the sister was so touched by the spirit she was crying. It was a powerful lesson and blessing. I am so excited to see them progress. I really hope I don't get transferred or Elder Rodriguez either. We are a good team here in Sanger. Transfer calls are Saturday night, so I’ll know then if I leave or stay.

I know that this work is real. We are truly dealing with people's salvation here. It is such a huge responsibility I have. I am literally held responsible for every nonmember in Sanger. I don't take that responsibility lightly either. I know that someone is sitting at home waiting for me to knock. I just have to find where to knock.

Andres, the one who was praying right before we got there, is struggling. He is struggling to quit smoking. That is his only problem right now, and he knows we can help him. He just needs confidence and support and he'll get there eventually. 

Riding bikes in this heat is rough. It's between 100-105 everyday with a lot of humidity. I don't think that I’ve ever had a time when my shirt is dry. It gets pretty rough sometimes. But I drink plenty of water and usually don't get any headaches. And I’ve gained 10 pounds. Good food :)

I've been on 4 exchanges already just because Elder Rodriguez is the District Leader. My last exchange on Friday we got Little Caesars from a member. It was so nice to have a culture food change.

We went into Isidro's backyard for the first time and guess what's back there?? A fully custom classic truck with a monster engine and a custom Corvette ZR1 from the 80's!! I almost died. He can't drive for very long because of the stroke. He said I could take the Vette and pick up all the Sisters at the church and he said the only problem is that he could only fit one in there. Hahahaha he is so funny! I told him I don't think you understand what a missionary can do.

So that dust storm...did no one go outside or drive in it? The pictures look way sweet! It looks like it's off of "the day after tomorrow" or something like that.

Jared, you need to keep up at piano. No one can play here. And in sacrament meeting it sounds horrible because no one sings. Well 2 people sing in English and 2 in Spanish basically. And it's that kind of outrageous opera singing. So please play the piano and keep at it. I regret quitting piano. Sorry Mom hahaha

Well that's about it...Have a fun week!

Love,

Elder Gygi