June 9

Here we go, start of week 1 of transfer 12!  Today marks Elder Hatch's

and my 17th month mark.  Incredible.  Just like a year ago, time is
still flyin on by.  We made some big plans throughout the week, put
them into action, and here I am sitting at the Bailey's, a.k.a. my new
home!  We live in this perfectly functioning abandoned apartment
upstairs from their house.  It was basically made for missionaries but
never occupied by any.  So we are its first tenants!  We even have air
conditioning, so I'm back in heaven.  Elder Hatch and I will be living
by ourselves, the first of our kind in the mission.  We're so excited
to have the Baileys as neighbors.  They are and have always been the
greatest blessing to us.

Last Monday I got a phone call from a lady who started speaking to me
in kikongo, and I was actually able to reply!  So I had my first phone
call in kikongo.  That night we went to a member of the branch
presidency of the Pointe-Noire branch and had the most delicious meal
after sharing a spiritual thought.  They'd prepared us sakasaka, rice
beyond measure, fried chicken, grilled fish, boiled plantains, kuanga,
gave us each our own Coke, and an orange for dessert.  Needless to
say, I was stuffed to the brim, and of course Maman Lodi made another
pass to serve us seconds and thirds.  It was unreal.  I wasn't too
full, however, to try the banana cream pie that I'd made earlier that
day - it was also incredible, but I waited for Tuesday night to tackle
my portion.

Speaking of Tuesday, we had a pretty great, normal day.  The most
interesting part of the day was when, after being ratéd by one
investigator, we had a meeting with these two new investigators who
were just walking by the church one day, asked someone when the
program started and on what day, and that Sunday they were at church!
Well, when we sat down with them we were having this great, really
spiritual lesson, when I asked one of the guys what he thought of the
Atonement and what it meant in his life.  He responds, "yeah I'm
basically just here because I want help getting my music career to
move forward."  So that was a buzz kill haha.   The best part is that
he said the same thing like 3 more times throughout the lesson, even
though I explained to him every time that that's not what we were
there for.  In the middle of the lesson, the investigator that ratéd
us showed up and sat down with us.  Then a third random guy walks in
off the street to sit down with us.  Not long after a FOURTH guy
stumbles through the gates very drunk and announces, "I've come to
pray!"  We promptly got him a chair.  A member getting married on the
21st then came in with a referral for us, so it was a huge party
basically.

Turns out the drunk guy and guy #3 had both lived in Angola, so at one
point in the lesson the drunk guy was being loud and the other guy
starts going off on the drunk guy in Portuguese.  It was hilarious.
One of those "stop and look around" moments when you can't help but
laugh at your situation.  Anyway, guy #3 comes up after me after the
lesson and says, "Elder Garland you're like a big brother to me.  I'm
trying to change my life around and I think with your help and
teachings I can do it.  I really appreciate you.  You inspire me.
Now...can I have your watch?" HA!  Almost he convinced me to be
suckered into his trap.  I said thanks, but no.  He couldn't have my
watch.  Sorry.

Wednesday was a little more tame.  We went to Darcyne's, Lisa's, and
Lovely's as per usual.  They're all doing wonderful and loving the
influence of the gift of the Holy Ghost in their lives.  On our way to
Raoul's a white girl on a motorcycle rode passed us in the middle of
the quartier, so that was pretty crazy.  We met Raoul's friend
Christelle, who is pretty awesome, who we hope will progress quickly!

No one was at Parfait's on Thursday except Héléna and Glad, so we got
to zoom through the Gospel and teach a couple commandments without any
random questions or tangents which often bring us into the weeds.  Our
friend Ephraim, a.k.a. DJ Virtual, a.k.a. Charisma met us again at the
church.  This guy is 6'6", mixes at night clubs from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.,
was initiated as a child to be a wizard in the DRC, played basketball
and was a famous actor in his town.  He is the most interesting
character I've met so far.  He's got the personality of an American,
except for the fact that he believes in mermaids (whose tails are
retractable and are only there to help them get around the water,
because believe it or not there are water mermaids, forest mermaids,
and mountain mermaids).  He tried to take an appointment with us so we
could meet one, but we politely refused.  He's hilarious though.  We
get along famously.  Imagine your next door neighbor is the nicest
guy, has a great sense of humor, comes to church when you invite him
and knows the Bible really well, but believes in mermaids and
wizardry.  That's Ephraim.  He says he wants to be baptized and be
with us Christians (he himself is a self-proclaimed cultist) but he
doesn't think he can go a whole day without having sex.  Yikes, haha.
Well, we'll keep working with him.  He's too funny to drop, and he's
been to church twice now and is reading the Book of Mormon.  A
progressing investigator if you ask me!

Afterwards we went over the baptismal questions with Bellna, our
kikongo speaking investigator whose uncle is Elvis, and she is solid
and ready for baptism on Saturday :)

That night we made corn chowder and cinnamon rolls.  It was the most
amazing batch I'd ever made.  Cinnabon came to the Congo and invaded
our kitchen.  Sister Bailey gave me a frosting recipe, so we were set.
Incredible.

Friday was a wonderful day as well.  We went to Darcyne's again and
split to talk to Maya, her oldest daughter, and the rest of the kids.
Jhostavie and I went over the baptismal questions with Maya, and that
went super well.  She's got a kickin testimony and she's super smart
for her age.  She'll make a great addition to the church, especially
considering she'll be with her family. :)  Darcyne is the nicest
woman.  She's like my older sister I never had.  She gave me 8
different pieces of African fabric so I could make ties, just because
I told her on Wednesday that I loved the patterns and loved to make
ties with them.  She is a saint, and her kids are angels.
Well...they're hilarious and adorable anyway.

We sat down with those two new guys from Tuesday and the music one
gave us the same story.  I didn't know what to say, after having
already explained it a million times.  So I just repeated myself,
again.  I think he got it this time.

Saturday was sweet.  We sat down with Milandou, who said he'd come to
church Sunday (he didn't), but it was a really spiritual experience.
We walked over to see that ancient, blind dinosaur of a woman Maman
Tété because it'd been forever and Elder Hatch had never met her.  She
was there, but didn't believe her grandson when he told us we'd come.
When she finally opened the door, we all sat down together and in
kikongo she told us she was upset that we didn't pass by the house to
say hello anymore or eat sakasaka together.  It was sad, but also
adorable.  She is seriously SO old haha.  When we left we went to see
Cécile, she said she was sick, but was about to sit down to do this
enormous stack of dishes.  Without really asking we kinda just took
over, grabbed some soap and got to work.  She about died laughing,
along with the 5 other women in the parcelle, and then every person,
man and woman, that walked in for the next 30 minutes.  It was great.
Because of that, she was much more at ease with us while we talked
about the plan of salvation.  It was a wonderful lesson.  It always
is.  We got to see Prudence again, and for maybe the second time in 7
months she went the whole lesson without breastfeeding her son Nephi.
She even offered us a Coke!  What a nice woman.  The next Relief
Society President.

Then I walked by a little boy in the quartier wearing a Backstreet
Boys shirt.  Incredible.

We went to the church and sat down with President Caillet to talk
about things we thought could be better in the branch (how not to bear
testimony, how not to give a talk, how not to teach the Gospel
Principles class), and then we sat down with Ephraim who had randomly
popped out of the baptismal service that was taking place while we
were in branch council.  He is one weird dude, but so funny.

On the way home I talked to the taxi driver the whole way only in
kikongo.  It was so cool!  I think he was a little drunk, because when
we first got in he just started going off in kituba.  Thankfully I was
able to respond.  What a nice man.

We were missing some investigators at church on Sunday, but we still
had 14 people make it to sacrament.  Ephraim came straight from the
club, so he was whipped and half delusional.  We went to the Bailey's
afterwards to finalize some plans we had made for p-day.

And that leads us to today!  We skipped basketball to help Elder
Bailey get a bunch of stuff for our apartment and bring over the beds
and whatnot.  It was a really long day.  None of the markets were open
because it's the day of Pentecost.  We ended up getting a ton of stuff
from a boutique across from the Foucks apartment, and then we headed
home and got installed in our new place!  It's pretty cozy.  The best
part will be living in our sector.  We walk out and teach the people
across the street.  It will be fantastic.  More to come.  More people
to meet, more people to love!

Have a wonderful week.  You are a child of God, and He loves you :)

June 2

What a week.

I'll have to be quick...on Monday, we made a ton of cookies at our
apartment and went over to Mpaka to eat pizza together to share one
last meal/activity before our Burundi friend Elder Ndayizeye left to
go back to Kinshasa.  He was a great Elder.  We'll miss him, and I'm
excited to keep in touch with him.  He didn't eat all his cookies
though, so that was also a blessing.

On Tuesday Elder Hatch came back over to Foucks, and we went out and
taught people for the first half of the day and then got ratéd for the
second half.  We got up from the church and started walking away when
we got a call from a recent convert who said he'd just been inspired
that the elders would be at the church - we had only been gone for
probably 2 minutes, so we came back and talked with him for a while
about what's been going on in his life.  Great kid.  His name is Van.
So yeah.

We had our first district meeting without the Baileys on Wednesday,
but it was still awesome.  Elder Johnston talked about charity, so
that's always a fresh reminder :) Our Wednesday program is solid, so
we got to see everyone we had planned - except for the last guy who
had just ratéd us the day before but called to excuse himself.  He was
tired. -__-

In our taxi ride coming home a plane landed probably 50 over our
heads, it was so impressive.  I loved it.  I wish I had 2 lives so I
could be a pilot in one and lead a normal family life in the next.

Our Thursday was pretty awesome, despite a rough Tuesday which follows
the same schedule.  On our way from our second rendezvous to the
church I heard some people playing drums and thought it was a church,
but when we turned the corner we saw a bunch of kids playing a trash
can and water bottles.  They were so good for how old they were.  I
asked if I could play the broken trash can and they just about died
when I busted out a sweet drum solo.  They all wanted hi fives.  I
could hardly resist.  At the end of the day, Jhostavie said during one
of our lessons I had said something that was an answer to his prayer.
It was really touching.  I think as missionaries we talk about some
things like obedience, prayer, scripture study and whatnot that it
becomes natural and of course God blesses us when we're obedient, but
I guess he'd had a question about that a week ago and I happened to
answer it in the middle of a lesson!  In any case, I was very touched.
 It's not often that someone tells me I've answered their prayer.  In
fact, I think that's the only time that's happened...

We went to the Bailey's so we could catch a ride home since they were
heading there anyway to pick up Elder Wright and Elder Etherington and
bring them to Mpaka.  Sister Bailey sent us back with a tub of the
most delicious peanut butter brownie bars - I had to steal the recipe.
 It was sad to say goodbye to the other elders, but I know they'll do
great in Mpaka.  I was moving my fan back into my room (it has to
follow me everywhere or I just sweat and sweat and sweat) and when I
put the plug in the whole thing exploded in my hand.  Amazingly, it
didn't hurt, and left nothing but a silhouette of the plug in silver
powder in my hand!  I was super thankful that evening.

We had an awesome Friday as we went to Darcyne's to help them
rearrange some stuff in the corner of her parcelle.  She had this
whole work force there cleaning, painting, filling the pool, redoing
the electricity, gardening, all this stuff to prepare for the party
after the baptism.  Afterwards, she gave us each these little sand
paintings that are so cool, it was a wonderful surprise.  We went
straight to pick up Elder Johnston's new trainee Elder Bybee, and he
seems like a great kid.  He's been in Douala working in Bonabéri with
my good friend Elder Brockbank in my old sector!  He gave me the best
news in the world - the Moumé parents that has son is on a mission in
Côte d'Ivoire, who I used to teach with Elder Massé, ARE GETTING
BAPTIZED!  I was so happy, I can't even explain.  How beautiful.

Meanwhile, I miraculously copied the exact same corn chowder that
Sister Bailey made for us, except this time with bread bowls.  It was
so good, I can't even explain.  I'll make it for my homecoming haha.
Elder Hatch and I officially started our Cantique Countdown.
Scary...204 days and not counting.

Saturday was crazy.  We got ripped off another couple rendezvous at
the beginning of the day, but we were already at the church so we
helped set up for the baptism, which went perfectly.  Darcyne asked me
to baptize her, as well as Giorgio, so that was really special for me.
 Afterwards, we joined their family in a huge party at their house.
It was incredible.  There were so many people there.  There was so
much food.  We had giant prawns, fried chicken, sakasaka, watermelon,
yoghurt, fries, fruit kebobs, rice and beans, Coke, juice - that had
it all.  I was mostly happy for Darcyne, Giorgio, and Laura.  They
looked so happy.  I can't explain the look on their faces.  The second
best thing were the 2 French people, a guy and his girl partner (not
married), who randomly came.  I was so scared to talk to them, but
somehow they appeared behind me while I was cutting the watermelon so
I basically HAD to say something.  I'm glad I did.  I was able to go
the whole time without finding out the girl's name.  Incredible.
They're awesome.  They're here on work, but want to live the African
culture, so they shop at the same places we do and live with Africans
and stuff like that.  I was able to invite them to come to church, and
they said they would come with Maya, Darcyne's daughter !  I was
hopeful, but not too hopeful.

That night, it took an eternity to get home, and the power was off.  I
couldn't find the key to get into the generator cage to check the gas,
so I stood in my doorway while the other elders were downstairs
waiting to watch how it works and I said a prayer by myself.  I looked
one more time on my desk and heard, "check under that box!" so I did
of course, and there it was!  Incredible.  We started the generator,
but the power wasn't coming on.  We checked and flipped and switched
everything - nothing.  Coming back down the stairs I prayed again by
myself and 5 seconds later the pump turned on and the lights flickered
back to life.  Incredible.  I was in awe.  PRAYING WORKS.  The real
power even came back on a couple minutes later, so I'm pretty
convinced God just wanted me to see how He's in control.  It was a
wonderful lesson.

Everyone was confirmed no problem on Sunday.  The best part - our
French friends came!!! AND they agreed to sit down with us on
Wednesday! It was another miracle.  We had another 22 people there, 6
for their first time.  AMAZING.  I love this work.

I love you, and I pray for you.  Have a wonderful week.  If French
people can come to church, SO CAN YOU!

Elder Garland

May 26

Alright, lots happening -

First things first - I went out and found 6 strings to put on that
guitar, so nothing but pure happiness for the last week.  We could be
disappointed by investigators, but at the end of the day I go home and
I sooth my brain with some sweet instrumental licks that I
surprisingly remember.

On Tuesday we had a French day and only spoke French for the entire
day, so that was really great for Elder Etherington.  We started
teaching the niece of Parfait, and she's progressing super well, as
well as another nephew of his named Glad.  So.  Africans.  Bellna, our
recent convert Elvis' niece who only speaks Kikongo, is also
progressing really well.  It's awesome to listen to the Gospel being
preached in their native language, especially since I understand like
80% of what they're saying.  And I keep learning every day, sooo
that's awesome.  We also met a kid named "NumberOne," so.  While our
investigator was standing us up at the church we took all the 50 or so
brochures we had and stood in the road and handed them out to people
and cars coming by.  They were all gone in less than 5 minutes.
Incredible.

On Wednesday, we were walking back from Darcyne's when we got stopped
by these French guys who told us they were possessed (they were
drinking, the driver had a bottle between his legs) so I told them to
give me their beer and I'd chase away the demons.  We all laughed and
chatted a little bit about where we were all from and then they asked
if they could give us their number, so of course we said yes.  It's my
goal to teach a French person the Gospel.  We'll see how that goes
haha with these guys, but I'm pretty sure they were just making fun of
us haha.  That's a first - not!  A member that we were teaching with,
Raoul, told us this awesome story about praying about the Church and
going to sleep, and as he was laying down that whole night he felt
like angels were surrounding him, but he couldn't open his eyes to
look until he woke up the next morning and they were gone.  It was a
really cool story.  Then I saw someone wearing a Johnny Bravo shirt
and my day was made.

On Thursday we had weekly planning, and went straight to Parfait's
where we learned that his niece had prayed about the Church, and that
night heard a voice tell her that the Book of Mormon was true and that
she was on the right path - INCREDIBLE! WHY CAN'T I HAVE A DREAM LIKE
THAT?! Elder Etherington was kindof passive about her answer because
he said he'd heard that already.  I've heard a MILLION stories like
that, and every time it blows my mind.  I love it.  I love Africa.
Incredible.

We've made it a habit of teaching the taximen on the way home and
giving them a Book of Mormon.  It's perfect.  They can only listen
until they drop you off, so you either get home really fast or they're
actually interested haha.

We had an awesome Zone Conference on Friday when President Cook came
through with Sister Cook to talk to us about revelation and being
guided by the Spirit.  It was really cool.  We talked about
simplifying lessons and truths that can be learned, but can't be
taught - taken from a talk that President Packer gave during the
Sunday afternoon session of last conference.  Sister Bailey had
prepared us sloppy joes for lunch, and then we went with President to
do Darcyne's interview while Elder Johnston did Giorgio, Laura, and
Wami's and I taught their neighbor Audrey with Elder Bailey.  We had a
great lesson all on the Book of Mormon and in the end she was just
like, "You know what - I've been to tons of churches.  I keep asking
God to show me the right one.  I believe you.  I want to be!"  It was
awesome!  Elder Bailey brought an incredible spirit to the lesson.  I
love teaching with him.  President said that the interview went really
well, as did Elder Johnston, so they're all clear for baptism next
Saturday! Family baptisms are a beautiful thing.  I can't wait.

I went back to the Bailey's so we could talk with all the branch
presidents about working more closely together so that the work could
go faster and more effectively.  We shared a delicious BBQ
chicken/potatoe dinner and had hot fudge sundaes for dessert.
Sometimes I forget I'm in Africa.  On the way home we learned about
transfers...blessings of being zone leader!  It was hard not to say
anything for the next couple of days, but everyone found out today
what was happening - getting there!

On Saturday we had Conference, which was basically dead until the
Priesthood session that evening.  I LOVE Conference.  I always learn
something new.  We got to sit down with one of our baptismal
candidates and help him through his struggles with alcohol, so that
was touching.  Our taxi driver's name was Cherubin.  I wish I could
write about all the talks, but that's what my journal is for :)

Sunday was similar - amazing talks, though Darcyne and her family
didn't come until later, but we all got to sit down and go through the
plan of salvation again.  Giorgio asked if we could have unicorns in
the celestial kingdom.  I said why not?  Haha.

An amazing week - nothing short of everything I've been living since
the beginning of my mission.  This morning everyone else learned that
I would be once again working with my good friend Elder Hatch in his
old sector as co-zone leaders, which means that Elder Etherington will
finish training with Elder Wright as the two of them white wash/open a
third sector in Mpaka.  It will be crazy.  Elder Ndayizeye is going
back to Kinshasa to be replaced by a Malgasy.  Elder Johnston will be
training Elder Bybee in our apartment!  So it's going to be a great
transfer, but I feel like big things are going to happen after.  We'll
see what they are.

In any case, God has some awesome plans for all of us.  Who knows what
they are.  I know He has plans for all of you, too!  You just gotta
find out what they are by asking Him!  Pray often - one of the
greatest points of His pure doctrine.  I pray for you every day.  I
hope you feel the love of your Lord in your life.  I hope you feel my
love, and I hope you know I love the Savior.  I can't wait to see you,
but in the meantime...onward, ever onward!!!

Elder Garland

May 19

What an excellent week.  When I was at the Bailey's last week they

gave me a CD they found of acoustic guitar arrangements of church
hymns, so last week I laid in bed and listened to it for the first
time annnddd I couldn't help but cry haha.  I miss playing guitar so
much.  I dream about it, I play air guitar, I sing the guitar parts
out loud, etc.

Despite all that, it doesn't get in the way of missionary work, thank
goodness.  We had a rough week as far as lessons go.  People were
particularly hard to get a hold of for some reason, so I didn't have
as many funny moments throughout the week.

One thing happened on Tuesday while we were sitting with a less-active
member.  We were sitting on the side of the path and this little man
holding a plastic bottle of whiskey comes by and, in Munikituba, asks
us if he can do a trick for us for 300 CFA (about 60 cents).
Jhostavie, the branch missionary we were working with, told him that
we only speak English so he would go away, but he does it anyway.  He
pulled his neck down into...itself...and it falttened out like a cobra
neck and he crossed his eyes and puffed his cheeks out.  It was
hilarious.  But...no money for him haha, sorry little drunk man.
Maybe next time.

On Wednesday we went on splits and I got to work with Elder Wright in
his sector.  I got to talk to one of his investigators about France
because he lives there 6 months of the year, and he's not far from
Grenoble!  He even knows Annecy, so I got to talk to him about that
for a while, it was wonderful.  He gave us his wife's information
(she's still in France) so the missionaries could visit her back
there.  Afterwards, we went to visit these two guys who are preparing
to be baptized on Saturday.  They had called us in the morning to tell
us their mom had just died that morning, so we went over to comfort
them and the family.  It was pretty different than your average
American mourning scene.  For one, Claude, the 18 year old, was
totally indifferent about it outwardly.  He talked to us like nothing
had happened.  Meanwhile, inside the house, his older sister was
weeping and wailing like nothing I had ever heard.  It was awful.  We
went in to try to comfort her by talking about the plan of salvation
and where she is right now in a better place, and she was pretty calm
the whole time, but as soon as we walked back outside she was off
wailing again.  They cope pretty differently I guess...I just thought
it was sad that they basically have like 0 hope of seeing them again.
They don't quite understand yet.  But alas.

Elder Wright and I ended walking a ton trying to find people to teach,
and it went pretty well.  One of the taxis we did get to take was
actually air-conditioned, it was incredible.  That's the second one
I've ever been in.  Then I saw a kid wearing a Flight of the Conchords
shirt and it made my day.

On Thursday I was back in my sector with Elder Etherington, but it was
rough.  We had a great time with Armel and his sister-in-law, but
afterwards no one that we'd planned on seeing was home or available.
We went to the church so my companion could help the Mpaka choir
practice while I was supposed to teach people with Paco outside, but
the people never came.  So that was unfortunate, but we learned our
lesson.  No more practice haha.  We went to Fond Tie Tie to meet the
Mpaka elders so we could split.  I sent Elder Hatch into our sector
and I left to Mpaka to work in my old sector with Elder
Rakotonindriana.  About 30 seconds from the house we crossed a truck
stuck in the mud.  It was already night, but we wanted to help.  For
the next 45 minutes we were slipping around, getting dirty, and trying
to help dig it out.  Eventually, 5 or 6 other people stopped to help
or stand there and give directions, so we were pretty much uneeded.
And it was getting late, so we went home and ate a delicious pizza
made by the famous Elder VanAusdal.  He used real orange cheddar
cheese - the first I've seen on my mission.  I was so excited.  The
pizza was so good.  Hopefully we can find some today.  Oh and a drunk
guy stopped us and told us his name was Kevin.  I asked him how to
spell it and he said, "like Jesus."  I didn't know what to write.  He
said again, "FIVE letters, just like Jesus."  I replied, "oohhhh right
of course..." and we invited him to church and moved on.

For time purposes I'm going to refer to Elder Rakotonindriana from now
on as Rako.  The kid is hilarious.  He is ALWAYS laughing or smiling
or preaching the Gospel or all three at the same time.  It's awesome.
He speaks perfect English from going to Anglophone school in middle
and high school, and speaks fluent Turkish from studying the language
in school.  He has an Olympiad gold medal for poem reading that he won
in Instanbul, and his dad is a two-time world champion French Boxer
and is now a personal body guard for the CEO of a telephone company in
Madagascar.  We had a great time talking about his life throughout the
day, and had an even better time talking with the investigators.  I
felt bad though because I basically spoke 50% Munikituba the whole day
with our investigators, and they gave Rako a hard time because he's
black and doesn't speak their language but the white guy does haha.

We met back up at Fond Tie Tie and it was good to be back in Foucks.
On Saturday we helped filled Pointe-Noire's baptismal font bucket by
bucket, and with 6 of us it only took like an hour.  I can feel it in
my back though - I spent 45 minutes drawing water out of a below
ground cistern with a bucket and pouring it into other buckets.  It
was great to assist the baptism though.  We went out to our own and
got to welcome tons of people for Cedric, Lisa, and Lovely's baptism.
Afterwards, I taught English while my companion taught our recent
convert and the Mpaka elders went to the airport to pick up a surprise
Elder Tweneboah from Ghana who's going to work in Mpaka!  We got to
meet him at church, and he's a wonderful man.  Ready to work and
learn!

On Sunday we had an another 17 investigators at church, but we were
missing our favorite family because of sickness.  The service was
great.  Cedric asked me to confirm him, so that was great.  I really
appreciated the opportunity, but it's nerve wracking to give blessings
in front of everyone!  We sat down with a girl who's been coming to
church for a long time but never met the missionaries and we committed
her to be baptized on the spot!  When we got home we made veggie chili
and cornbread and then for the rest of the evening, surprise, I played
guitar!  I forgot to mention that during the baptism one of the Mpaka
members brought a guitar to the church.  He said I could borrow it,
but there were no strings except 4 that he'd taken off and wrapped up
and put inside.  Well, I took it home, strung up the E, A, D, and B
and went to town.  It was heaven on Earth.  I've missed it so much.
No more guitar dreams for this guy!  Today we're going to look for
some new strings, so we'll see how that goes.  I'm pumped though.  I
was pleased to find out that I can still play some originals!  As for
the instrumentals...we'll see when I get the strings.  Anyway.  I'm
ecstatic.

HEY!  I love this work, and I love you.  I could write a book of
everything I've learned since I've showed up in Africa.  I'll need
your help when I get home.  I need you to keep reminding me every once
in a while that all this actually happened, that it wasn't just a
dream.  At the speed that time is passing, I'd think it was fake.  So
just say "Africa" to me every so often if I ever start showing some of
my old habits.  Thank you for your example.  You are what makes the
world go round.  Good, honest, hard-working Christians that DON'T want
to watch the world burn and are constantly working to put out the
fires that others are starting!  Keep it up.  God has your back, and
when you fall he has your hand.

Have an amazing week, whoever you are!

Elder Garland